Balance of Nature
by livelyheart
Summary: Twins Alexandra and Noah are trapped in the unusual and unknown world of Resident Evil. Sorely relying on their wit and strength, can they manage to reunite and discover a way home? (leonxoc) (INCOMPLETE)
1. Chapter 1: Sucked In

A/N: So this is my first, _non-oneshot_ Resident Evil FanFiction and I am super nervous! This is a "sucked in!" plot but I have had this idea looming in the back of my head for a while now and decided that instead of continuously thinking about it, it was time to put my hands to use and type. This story will have dual first-person point of views, I will clarify it as much as possible and hopefully it will be easy to differ since the two characters personalities are almost opposites. I will try my absolute best to make this story unique and keep the Capcom characters not OOC and realistic. Now that I have all long author-ish junk out of the way, I hope you join me in this journey that I call, Balance of Nature and I am happy to have you here. Read and review! Enjoy y'all!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

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Balance of Nature

Chapter 1: Sucked In

 _There is a saying, 'Everything in nature is about balance'. A short one sentence quote that relates to the infamous philosophical concept. The balance of nature. A concept that the majority of the human population agrees with and understands. The concept that states that disturbing the balance of nature will negatively impact the future._

 _However, dear reader, what if I told you that the quote - the theory - is not as black and white as it appears._

 _What would you say if I tell you that the concept is not all true. Perhaps your actions in the world you live in would not affect yours, but a completely different one, in a different galaxy, in a different universe that is an infinite and unknown number of miles away. If your actions are non-affecting, is that a positive sign?_ _Perhaps in another world where there is no distinguishable difference between what is reality and what is fantasy._

 _However, imagine being stuck in this type of world. Although unless you are of godly kind, that is very unlikely._

 _In whichever world you reside in, fiction, reality, fantasy, I have only one word of advice. For every and any decision that arrives your way, whatever you choose to do, choose wisely._

 **Alex**

"You _cannot_ be serious!" I testified sharply, plastering a deadly glare on my face. Crossing my arms over my chest, I strided towards him in hope of reasoning.

Noah snapped back, "Better believe it, sis." He gave me a challenging tone, "I'm not leaving." He stood up from the old brown couch and walked towards his video game console.

He was playing video games. _Again._ I still did not understand why he spent so much precious time wasted on that stupid console that I have never touched in my life. However, Noah was no video game nerd, in fact we was one of the best athletes, let alone one of the most popular males at Brooklyn High School.

Noah was all around athlete, praised by teachers, girls, and teammates. His reputation was beyond high, I wondered how the school or the college scouts would react if they found out my twin brother - athlete Noah - was a couch potato in private. A complete, annoying, lazy, couch potato.

Although ruining his rep was tempting, I could not. For when people thought of Noah, they thought of me, Alex. The Black twins. One of them a superstar athlete and the other an overachiever. The siblings that were the definition of perfect, always got along, always were polite, always were friendly.

Little did anyone know what we were like in private. When the Black twins brawled - which was often- , nobody, not even the most eager viewer would want a front seat ticket.

I threatened, "I held dibs on the family room tonight," The flatscreen television powered on with the console's logo in view. It looked like a letter 'p' with other letters I did not care enough to read. I said, "My friends are waiting downstairs to watch America's Best Model. _Get out_."

One thing that was certain, I was definitely not giving up the television rights tonight. I had already informed my parents - who were out of town - about my little get together of inviting my friends to watch the finale.

But what was irritating was Noah could play his video games somewhere else, _like in the living room._ Being Noah, he disagreed and said the large HD TV was the ideal place to play and he would not budge. Now I am stuck sharing the family room with the most annoying creature on the planet.

"Your friends? Is the hot blonde one here?" He said with a dopey grin that I had the strong urge to smack off his face.

"You're disgusting." I snorted, rolling my eyes.

He took ahold of the remote and exclaimed, "Oh, hey! If you don't mind, could you invite your friends to the party tomorrow? The hot ones, of course. And don't bother inviting Amy, that girl won't leave me the hell alone. Does she understand what 'no' means?"

"Party? What party?"

" _The_ party. Tomorrow night. Here." He said as if I was not catching along. Oh, I understood it alright, but I did not like it.

" _Here?"_ I asked incredulously. How dared he plan to throw a party without asking me! _Or our parents._ I burst out, "I have a study date with Tom here tomorrow night! And he asked _me_!"

He objected, "Does it look like I care? The party is happening and you can't do anything about it, suck it up." He waved me off, "Now can you please get lost. I'm trying to play."

After allowing him to finish his sentence, I immediately lunged for the console controller that was sitting atop the coffee table. When Noah finally realized the controller was in my grasp, he tried to grab it from me. However, I simply held it out of reach and ran to the other side of the couch.

His blue eyes that were the same shade as mine, narrowed at me.

"Give that back, _right now_. I _will_ fight you for it, sis." He declared.

"Bring it on, _bro_."

Noah quickly jumped over the couch in an athletic manner and tried to snatch the controller. I would not let him and kept it nuzzled between my stomach and arms, I could feel the joystick move and buttons were pushed. He wrapped his arms around me in an attempt to seize it. After a few seconds, he became more aggressive and I did as well. I immediately began to kick him, aiming where the sun does not shine. Noah took hits but wrestled me to the ground, with the controller still in my hand, I accidentally pressed buttons with shapes plastered on it. Oddly, I heard music running in the background.

"Stop it!" He yelled and with a final force of strength he managed to take hold of the controller.

I huffed in frustration and tried to snatch it back but stopped when I noticed the screen changed to the game he wished to play. Barely paying attention to the screen, the only thing I saw was a male holding a girl's hand in a rush and the 'press start' option at the bottom.

In a last attempt to take the controller, I jumped over the couch and body checked Noah who just tapped a button.

However, when he fell - which he did - as did I. How I managed to fall is unknown but I fell beside Noah. But I could not see him - or anything in that matter -.

Oddly, instead of hearing him complain or whine, I heard a completely different voice. Two words that were spoken in a ghostly like tone. The words were, " _Resident Evil_."

Rubbing my head where the impact from the ground hit, I hastily opened my eyes to be encircled with darkness, pure pitch black. I could not move, speak or hear. White ringing filled my ears and my thoughts were cloudy. My thoughts then became empty and it was difficult to catch air. It felt as if I was lost in a deadly void for eternity.

Reality was the whole event occurred in a few mere seconds before my senses came dizzying back at once.

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When I woke, the bright light of the living room did not fill my shut eyes. Curiously, I slowly opened my eyes. But instead of the white ceiling filling my eyesight, a foggy gray sky interrupted my view. I knitted my eyebrows together and squinted harder to find trees without leaves. The amount of trees made it seem like a forest, a lonely forest.

And I was in that forest.

 _Where am I?_ I thought as scanned the surroundings with my eyes, not moving one inch and looking out of the corner of eye. The ground was covered with dirt and brown, crusty leaves.

Perhaps I was dreaming.

I read in an article one time, that there was a such thing as lucid dreaming in which a person was aware that they are dreaming. In their lucid dreams, they could control their actions and are able to fully harness all of their senses but they could not feel physical pain. However, what I did not understand is how I managed to fall asleep after my fight with Noah.

 _Ugh_ , _Noah_.

When I woke up I would beat the crap out of him.

All I remembered was in a last attempt of victory, I tried to bodycheck him into the couch but I fell with him. That was all that came to mind. If I was dreaming as of now, did that mean I had fallen unconscious? That seemed unlikely, considering the push was not close enough to actually injure a person.

Tilting my head sideways, a throbbing pain immediately cursed through my head and ran throughout my neck. I winced and held my head and felt my heart race.

The pain…it felt all too real. How was it possible that I could feel physical pain in my dream?

Unless I was not dreaming.

I realized I was no longer at home, Brooklyn did not have forests like this and fall was not even the next season to arrive in New York. Expecting warm weather to hit my face, a cold gust of wind breezes past. If I was not dreaming, or in Brooklyn, _where was I?_

"Where am I?" I whispered to myself in panic.

Taking gasps of air, I patted my body and noticed I was wearing the same outfit before I ended up here - wherever here was - . Skinny jeans, a comfortable sweater with a black v-neck underneath and runners. The clothes were already covered in dirt and a few cuts because of the fallen branches had marked my arm. My head continued to pound and I was able to hear my heart drum inside of my chest. Luckily, the throbbing had fairly diminished but as I felt the front of forehead, a small lump had developed.

I slowly used the support of my hands and stood up from the uncomfortable ground.

Instinctively, I searched the pocket of my jeans and hoodie. The need to see my forehead in the camera or the reflective screen was longing. I also had the strong desire to find out where the hell I was mirror and find out where the hell I was. Not only was I confused where I was, I was also frightened. I needed to get home.

Finally finding my phone, I quickly turned it on and look cell signal. Nothing. Groaning in frustration, I began walking around the area, following a man made path in hopes of receiving a reception. I opened the camera and looked at my reflection.

What directly caught my attention at first glance was the large bruise that was planted at the top right corner of my forehead. Splotches of purple and blue coloured the area and did not look pleasant. The unpleasantness was accompanied by my wild dark hair that I had put in a loose ponytail. A few scratches also made their way on my face.

As I finished up examining the cuts and bruise, I was ready to continue my search for signal but was taken aback as I saw something. Stopping in my tracks, my jaw slightly dropped and my phone almost slipped from my sweaty hands.

The time read 4:35 PM, August 27th, 2012. The exact date when I fought with Noah and eerily, the exact time as well. What was more odd, the time did not change. Not one minute or second went up, it was as if time had stopped. But that would be impossible for as I stood as of now, time was occurring, the wind was blowing and the birds were flying. Could my phone be broken? But everything else worked perfectly fine.

Instead of walking, I fell into a jog, a frantic jog. As I followed the wide secluded path, I always scanned my surroundings for any sign of identification where I was.

The path seemed to go on forever until I found a house.

Thank the lord, I really needed to talk to someone and get answers.

Before I approached the house, I heard something. A groan. The sound continued and was deep. The very noise caused a chill to run down my spine and I stood stationary. I had no idea what that was and had no intention of finding out.

The groan suddenly disappeared and in the faraway distance I could see a few men. With a smile plastered on my face, I ran towards them. The two men are of noticeable age and wear farming clothing with hats. One of them carried a pitchfork which was uneasy.

I exclaimed, "Excuse-excuse me!" I waved a hand in their face as they acted as I was not there. "I'm sorry but would you mind telling me where this is?"

The men suddenly shot their heads my way, their eyes hardened. I did not ask anymore questions as they shouted, "Un forastero!" What the…

Before I could respond, the men lunged at me.

With mere seconds to dodge the attack, I fall backwards on my butt. Choking for deep breath of air, sweat creased on my forehead and my heart pounded in my ears. Why are they attacking me! The men continued to approach and I slide and used my hands to move backwards. _What do I do?,_ I asked myself as I clumsily stood and turned on my heel. The house came in view and I attempted to get to it with looking behind me to see the men close on my tail. As I ran to the house, I heard them yell at me. The language they are speaking is spanish although I took it in High School, I did not understand what they were saying. A few keywords ringed in my head like 'outside', however the rest was unknown.

My feet took me closer and closer to the house and I prayed I did not trip. Finally arriving at the small house, before entering through the doorway, the man's pitchfork pierces the wooden wall.

It nearly skimmed me.

After I shut the door and locked it tight, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, gasping for air. What the hell is going on? I slid down the wall and cupped my head into my hands. I blinked rapidly to prevent myself from crying. I did not know where I was or what is going on but all I want is to go home.

"Who are you?" A sudden clear raspy voice asked.

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A/N: That's a wrap for Chapter One! Sorry for that cliffhanger! Thank you all for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed it. Should I continue? What do you think of my characters? Want more? Tell me what you think, review! I appreciate and am grateful for any criticism or compliments. See you guys soon!


	2. Chapter 2: Leon

A/N: Thank you guys for all the sweet reviews. They were much appreciated and I hope they keep coming. I love knowing what people think about my story; any constructive criticism is always welcome. Anyways on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

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Chapter 2: Leon

 **Alex**

The man who spoke to me was young and handsome. He looked…familiar.

And by familiar, I didn't mean the way you met someone before but somehow, someway lost contact. I used the term _familiar_ loosely, by the means that he looked like the type of stranger I would have passed on the street, a stranger that if you should see them again, you would have forgot about where you saw them or who they were with but vividly capable to recognize their face. It felt as if I had passed him while walking on the street or at the shopping at the mall, barely paying attention to him and never having the chance to actually meet him.

However, when I saw his face, I knew I had seen this man before.

The stranger looked quite a few years older than me, at least twenty years of age. He had charming blue eyes that were a shade lighter than mine with a rather odd hairstyle with light brown – nearly blonde – hair that was parted to the right with bangs that fell over his forehead. He wore a brown leather jacket and dark cargo pants.

Although his appearance was not what caught me off guard and caused a chill to run down my spine. In his right hand, was a pistol firmly grasped. As I looked behind the stranger, I saw something that I did not catch when I first entered the small house.

A man was laid dead by the fireplace likely by the hands of the stranger. And I was probably going to be next on his hit list.

"P-please! Don't kill me!" I cried in panic. Curling my knees to my chest, I push my back even further into the wall and raised my hands in defense and surrender.

Tears were brimming in my eyes, and to dispose of them, I blinked rapidly. The stranger was going to kill me. Like the man and the men outside with the pitchforks. Oh god, what have I gotten myself into.

The stranger immediately questioningly and slightly dropped the pistol to his side. Slightly walking towards me, he whispered something under his breath. I could not hear exactly what he mumbled but I heard the key word, _American_.

"Don't move," He commanded without much aggression. "Who are you?"

"Alex, my name is Alex Black. I-I am from Brooklyn, New York, I-"

He interrupted, "New York? You're from New York?" I nodded my head quickly.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I...don't...know," I breathed while touching the welt on my forehead. "How I ended up here. I was at home and I blacked out. I don't remember anything from that point." I still had to be cautious of the stranger. I fully knew he killed the man by the fire with an unknown reason. Whoever he was, he was dangerous and armed.

He asked with urgency, "Were you kidnapped? Abducted?"

I knitted my brows together. "I don't think so."

It could be likely I was abducted however the last thing I remembered, I was at home. Unless a stranger broke through the front door or window and managed to get past Noah and take me, however nobody would do that in my neighbourhood.

"Alex," He placed his gun in his holster and approached me. "I think you may have a concussion plus amnesia." A concussion? No, that was impossible.

The bruise was visible but it did not contribute to a concussion considering my head did not throb or hurt. A real concussion would cause me to be on the floor crying in pain right now, not feeling perfectly fine. Scared, confused, anxious but perfectly fine.

I saw a head injury first hand when I was no more than eight years old. It was a Sunday morning, Noah and I was playing outside and we were as close as twins could be. Siblings and best friends, always having fun together before hated each other's guts.

It was mid-January and the sun was setting bright rays of shine toward the ground that was covered with white from the previous night's snowfall. We decided to make a snowman on the front lawn. While making the snowman he suddenly shot a soft snowball at me and that small snowball escalated to a day I would never forget.

The fight was not like the fights we had now, it was silly and friendly. We were never intentionally trying to hurt each other we were just kids. Until something happened. Something that was not _fun_ or _silly_ , something that was terrifying and serious.

The snowball fight became more competitive and we began to chase each other around the street and lawn. Our first mistake. I grabbed a large snowball and aimed it at Noah. He ran fast and joyfully, in attempt to get away from the shot I would soon take.

But when Noah ran through the street…there was a car. And he ran right in front of it.

The car hit him and knocked him back a foot. I recalled how I felt; scared, most of all. Noah cracked his skull and the blood that ran through his head tainted the snow from white to red. His concussion was my entire fault and the guilt had been plastered towards me for the next few months. Although we didn't bring the accident – which it entirely was - up the past years, I never forgot seeing my twin brother in the ER, close to bleeding out and flat lining.

Turning my attention to the stranger, I realized something. If I convinced him that I did have a concussion and amnesia I likely have a better chance of him trusting me and if he trusted me, I have a better chance at survival. Who would want to kill an injured innocent girl anyway?

Well the men with the pitchforks outside seemed keen on it.

Wait a minute, the men lunged at me outside were still _here,_ trying to get in. From the distracting and pathetic sound of my whimpering, I hadn't noticed they were still banging on the door that I locked shut.

The banging echoed throughout the house and the stranger cursed under his breath, "Shit." _Shit_ was right. He said, "Listen, Alex, stay put."

"Where are you going?" I asked frantically, standing up. "It's dangerous out there." I said the last part intentionally. If he wanted to try to take those men out, be my guest. No way was I getting near them again.

"Stay here. I'll signal you when it's safe." The stranger said before quickly rushing up the stairs and out of sight.

The second he was gone, I rapidly scanned the house while hearing his footsteps on the floor above. He was probably going to shoot them from higher ground. As long as he got rid of those bastards, I did not care what method he chose.

Although the stranger showed no hostility toward me yet, I still understood I could not trust him.

As I looked at his face, into his eyes more often, the more familiar he seemed but I could not put my finger on it. Unknowing where I recognized him irritated me and I vowed to find out.

Shifting a glance at the dead body, I could feel gag rise in my throat. I never saw a dead man in person till this day. Of course gory movies and shows I have watched however seeing the gunshot wound pierced through his head was the real deal. With the flesh and blood covering his face was nauseating and caused me to gulp down a knot in my throat. The stranger was a good shot, all the more reason to stay alert around him.

I walked passed the dining table and fireplace to the staircase and heard glass shatter upstairs from the stranger.

"Oh god!" I shouted as I saw what was underneath the flight of stairs.

Human skulls. Gasping for air, I shut the staircase door and slowly backed away from the strange scene heading up the stairs.

I needed to get home, _now_.

As I stepped foot atop the last step, my brows raised. The window was shattered and glass was scattered around the top floor but the stranger was nowhere in sight. Did he...jump? I swiftly rushed towards the pane and looked outwards.

The stranger had already begun to fire shots at the two hostile men. He was easily able to shoot one of them who slowly slumped to the ground, dead. When the man gave one last cry of agony his body began to slowly turn white and a few seconds later, he became _dust and disappeared._

"Impossible," I whispered disbelievingly. "That's impossible." As the stranger killed the other man, the same frighteningly odd ash to air act happened to him.

The stranger looked in the window and spotted me; he gave thumbs up and pointed towards the door. That was my cue to leave. Shakily walking down the stairs, I wrapped my arms around me and examined the man on the ground. How had he not disappeared? It almost seemed that he stayed in solid form for me to discover him.

I slid off the lock of the door and swung it to find the stranger waiting for me. Confusion enveloped his face as I approached him gradually.

"It still doesn't make sense why you are here," He believed. "If you were kidnapped how were you able to get away?" Does he still believe I was kidnapped? Perhaps it was for the best to lead him on with that idea.

"I told you before. _I don't know how I ended up here_ ," I lied, "I must have forgotten." Relating to my 'head concussion'. "I don't even know where _here_ is."

"You're in Spain." He simply said.

I'm in Spain? I always wanted to go to the beautiful country but I never expected it to be like this. However, most important of all, _why am I in Spain?_

"Where in Spain?" I asked.

"Somewhere you shouldn't be." He muttered, "What am I supposed to do? I can't take you with me."

I rejected, "You can't just leave me here! I won't stand a chance at survival. You saw those men; they were trying to kill us!" I insisted, "Please, just take me with you, I just want to go home."

Thought and a look of sympathy crossed over his face. It disappeared as he exhaled and mumbled, "I'm going to regret this."

After that said, he began to walk away from me. My jaw dropped and my eyebrows furrowed. The bastard left me here to die! Oh god, how the hell was I supposed to get home now? There was no signal on my phone, there was men trying to kill me and worst of all, I had no idea how to get out of the forest and towards civilization. I could not believe he left me. He just left me here.

Where did the general hospitality of helping a lost girl?

Suddenly before I turned around and head the other direction, I the stranger exclaimed, "Are you coming or what?"

My glare turned into a small smile as I felt relieved and followed the stranger along the path. Maybe he was not as bad as I thought he was.

Although I could let my guard down a tiny bit, that did not mean I could fully trust him. Because one thing I learned from movies was, _don't trust anyone_ , especially if you are alone and in an unknown area. Like me. Strangers were strangers the ones carrying guns and weapons don't seem the safest.

Which reminded me.

The stranger had a gun, but why? I did not want to aggravate or irritate him but I knew I should ask him what he's doing here as well, or his name in that matter. I would ask when the time was right.

As we walked inside another shack, he grabbed a few items which looked useless to me. Green plants of some sort. We continued made our way through the path and the stronger the urge I felt to ask him more questions. He was distant and mysterious and I needed to find out what his business here was anyway.

We passed a wooden post with two skulls swinging from it. I kept my distance from it.

"It looks like a warning of some sort." He said to himself. We passed a sign that read pueblo which I translated was able to translate, _people_.

"Watch out for the traps." He said warningly as he made our way down the path. Walking around the traps, I heard shouting.

At closer glance, the humans looked similar to each other and both yelled in Spanish. The way they walked and the aura about them was not normal. I obviously knew they weren't normal when they were tried to kill us but something seemed off about them. I couldn't really explain it.

I stopped in my tracks and watched the body disappear. The stranger dismissed the entire notion as if it was normal. When he realized I was lagging behind, he turned around and asked, "Something wrong?" Yes, everything was wrong.

"N-no." I proceed, "it just occurred to me, I don't know your name."

He answered, "I'm Leon." _Leon._ I swore I heard that name before.

I pestered even more, cluing for information about _Leon_ , "What are you doing here anyway?" I glanced at his weapons.

After a moment of silence, he said informally, "I'm an agent. The president's daughters has been kidnapped and my mission is to rescue her." Wait a minute, when did the president's daughter become abducted?

"When did that happen?"

"A few days ago." He suddenly reached into his pocket and took out a picture. He asked, "Have you seen her?"

The girl in the picture was blonde with short blonde hair and bangs. She sported a joyful smile and looked pretty however she wasn't the definitely President's daughter. I did a whole project on the First Family for school last year and that is not the First Daughter. The President in 2012 - my president - was African-American and so was his daughter. Flipping over the picture with the tips of my fingers, I read the numbers that were scrawled on the back. _2004,_ that was eight years ago. However, why would Leon look for her now? Has she been missing for that long?

Perhaps he wasn't even an agent…

One thing was for certain though, whoever the girl in the picture was, I had seen her before. The familiarity felt the same as when I first saw Leon.

"Uh-Leon, when was this taken?"

"Didn't you read the back?" He asked, "2004. _This year._ " What does he mean _this year_.

I sputtered, "Wait, what's the date?"

He looked at me curiously with knitted eyebrows, "You must've hit your head pretty hard." He continued, "But the date is August 28th, 2004." What. The. Actual. Hell.

"The subject's name is Ashley Graham."

I shakily lifted the picture in my hands and looked Leon. I compared the two, looking at the picture and him while shifting my eyes back and forth. That was when the memory came back.

 _Flashback_

" _Leon, HELP!" I rolled my eyes toward my laptop and stomped out of my room and towards the family room. I was tired of hearing the stupid high pitched scream from my room which was all the way upstairs._

 _As I rushed down the stairs, Noah was playing a video game on the TV. God, the same video game. I swore finished that gave at least 100 times. I glanced at the screen was young man with odd hair and a blonde girl._

" _Turn that down!" I exclaimed._

" _Can't right now, Leon has to save Ashley." He said, focused. I huffed in frustration as I glared at him and turned the console off._

 _End of Flashback_

Oh my god.

 _Leon_. _Ashley_. Leon and Ashley from the video game. I couldn't go home because home didn't exist.

I wasn't even in my world. I was in a video game.

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A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! Review!


	3. Chapter 3: Down the Rabbit Hole

A/N: Hey guys! This chapter is going to be a little different than my previous chapters. This update will introduce the dual alternating POV's that I stated in the beginning. The two POV's will be the twins and since the last two chapters were of Alex, it's about time for Noah to shine! I am going to try my best to make their perspectives and tone different so it is easier for the reader - you - to differentiate the twins. However, if you have any issues with it, please let me know so I can immediately fix it and improve.

By the way, this story is rated T for violence and swearing, which there will a plentiful amount of in this chapter. Just a warning!

I also made a cover poster for the story! Took me a long time but I really liked how it turned out, what do you guys think? Oh, and in case it is not clear enough the two people on the poster are the Black twins. Sorry for the long author's note and now I have all that out of the way, enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

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Chapter 3: Down the Rabbit Hole

 **Noah**

With closed shut eyes, hues of bright white became translucent.

I drowsily begun to lift my eyelids and immediately squinted since I was blinded. The white LED light that hung above me blurred my vision with its vivid rays and forced me to tilt my head sideways. As I did this, my head slightly throbbed with pain but it quickly diminished and I was forced to look toward the walls to scan my surroundings.

I had no idea where I was.

I felt tired as if I would fall asleep any minute but I didn't let myself. By the looks of it, I wasn't in my bedroom or even home and I didn't see anyone near. But...where was I? How did I go from my family room to ending up here?

The last thing I remembered was fighting over the controller with my annoying-as-hell sister Alex but everything that happened after was a blur. Shit, Alex would never give me a break as long as I was breathing. She always threatened to spill the beans about my gaming habits to the whole school with hopes of bringing down my rep. She always thought she was smarter than me, better. Deep down I knew she was jealous I didn't have to buy my friends.

Sometimes I honestly thought my twin sister was manipulative and evil. But if the reason I was in this mysterious place was her fault, I would not be happy, no I would be livid.

She bodychecked me after I pressed play and I went black. Wait, did she knock me out? If I was knocked out by my puny sister, I would kill myself. She was practically a twig and couldn't lift a feather. But her knock wasn't that hard, not nearly hard enough to black out someone.

I turned my attention to the small square room that looked surreal. The entire room was bathed in white; the walls, ceilings and floor were constructed of white glossy tile. It was almost completely empty except for the dentist-like chair that I laid on in the center of the room.

Knitting my brows together, I tucked my chin inwards of my chest and looked downwards. I was _shirtless_. I wasn't in the clothes I last remembered wearing which were a simple tee and athletic shorts. Instead my chest was uncovered and barefoot. The only article of clothing I had on was white pants that resembled hospital clothing.

The change of clothes did not leave a good impression. Neither did the plastic gauze that was wrapped around my upper arm. There was a small red dot of blood. Did someone...stick a needle into me?

I moved my hands but to no avail as I was restricted. Restrained to the chair, I cursed. My hands, feet and chest were tightly strapped and I was unable to stand from the chair let alone move one inch. That left an even worse impression. The whole scene almost seemed that I was being, _examined or observed._

 _"Ah, you've awoken."_ A calm voice chimed from my right.

I quickly turned my head towards the voice and did a brash double take.

Because in front of me was the infamous main villain in the Resident Evil series, a human version of Albert Wesker. I got to be dreaming, there is no way in hell am I in arms length - well not now, since I am still strapped to the chair - of one the most evil, but _badass_ villains in video game franchise.

Wait a second...a cosplayer! This guy definitely had to be cosplaying.

I strongly felt the need to applaud him, his costume was perfect. With his suit of all black, leather gloves and shoes to match, his outfit was to the dot. His face even looked like the villain, strong jawline and eyes that were hidden beneath a pair of old-fashioned shades. Oddly, his hair was the exact same style and colour as Wesker too.

Although whoever this cosplayer with the awesome outfit was, it still did not explain, _why the hell was I strapped to a bed in an unknown area._

"Where the am I?" I said with intimidation. Whoever strapped me to the bed had no right, nobody strapped Noah Black to a bed. "Where's my parents? Where's my sister?"

He said, "Your questions will be answered if you pass my little test." Now this was just getting weird. He sounded exactly like Wesker, his impression was spot on. But it was probably just a freaky coincidence, there is no way this is the actual Albert Wesker... _is there?_

He simply smirked back and turned on his heel. While at the doorframe, he flipped his finger and said, "Blindfold him and take him to the Evaluation Room." Fuck is that?

Suddenly, four people emerged from the doorway. Wesker - or whoever he was - walked down the bright hallway, exiting out of sight. My breath fastened when they entered the room. They looked intimidation, dressed in all black with no flesh in sight and weapons perched on their side.

What the hell was going on? I did not even know what to think anymore. Whoever these people weren't kidding around. The men came toward me and I immediately tried to kick them but to no avail.

"Stay the hell away from me!" I exclaimed.

But I immediately bit my tongue when two of them aimed their rifles at me. Nobody here was friendly, I concluded. Who were these guys anyways?

While they unstrapped me from the chair, I was unable to make any sudden movements with the guns pointed at me. _Just find out what these weirdos want,_ I thought to myself as they tied my hands behind my back and shoved a black cloth over my eyes, removing my vision.

Alright, I could do this. I was a superstar athlete! Perhaps I was not skilled in combat but my strength and endurance would easily make up for that. All those years of playing tackle football and track should definitely come in handy to escape these creeps. And just because my grades at school weren't top-notch like my sister's, I was as logical and witty as she ever could be. And I was also a part-time gamer which morphed me into a strategic thinker and good at solving problems.

I knew if I got myself into this problem, I could get myself out of it.

 _46...47...48...49,_ I counted the steps in which direction the four men forcefully led me to the 'Evaluation Room'. So far, there was 30 steps straight, 10 steps left and 50 steps right. Never knew when I was going to need those numbers. Wherever they were leading me, I knew it wasn't good. These strangers were dangerous and I needed to stay cautious. I needed to find out where I was.

But the whole blindfold ordeal and the guns did not leave me to think I was completely safe.

Suddenly, the men stopped in their tracks perhaps reaching their destination. I heard a door open and with the men's tight grasp on my arm, I was pushed inside and after several steps, they shoved into a solid structure. It was another chair, I thought.

Resting my back on the chair, they suddenly cut off the cuffs that were around my hands and I felt short-lived relief as they they strapped them to the chair and my arms on the handrests. But I knew I could not react, the guns were probably still pointed at me. It was a tight and uncomfortable hold and they applied a suction-like metal that dug a few millimeters into my skin. It felt cold against my flesh and they put another two on each side of my head.

My panic grew harder to control. "What are you doing!" I exclaimed with a shaking jaw.

I knew my fear became evident and I felt pathetic. I tried to break free out of luck but unsurprisingly didn't work. What were these bastards doing to me? I wasn't fearless, nobody was but showing them fear was my first error. The first sign of weakness and hopefully, my last.

Suddenly, the fake Wesker look-a-like voice erupted throughout the room from a speaker. In the identical tone he said, "Worry not, boy. This is only a evaluation to test your abilities. I hope you do as well as I think you will, good luck. And remember, we will be watching."

"Who are you!" I shouted in one last attempt but he did not respond.

I struggled and yelled as the men took the blindfold off and before they lowered a ring over my eyes, before they shocked me, I saw a wide glass window with a man dressed in black looked down at me.

The last thing I saw before everything went pitch black, was domed room I sat in and the huge banner that sprawled in front of me with the Umbrella logo in bright red and angelic white.

* * *

When I regained reality, I wasn't awakened or gained consciousness. I was shocked, blasted. I wasn't in the domed room anymore and the huge banner was out of sight but that didn't mean it was out of mind.

Oh fuck, I recognized that logo anywhere. It felt like I was in a shitty Resident Evil movie with wannabe cosplayers. But little did I know, I was in the freaking' game! It explained Wesker who was the _real deal_ and the scary Umbrella employees. I loved the Resident Evil series, playing the first one when it came out to the fifth one but this was too extreme, even for me.

But I only had one reaction; _shit_.

* * *

A/N: I know this chapter is a bit on the short side but I wanted it to end exactly where it did, so my apologies. I will try to make up for it with the next chapter which will be very action packed and I am so excited to write it! If you guys want more faster, review!


	4. Chapter 4: Evaluation

A/N: Hey guys! This chapter will be in Noah's perspective again and then next chapter I will be switching back to Alex.

And a quick heads up, I will be doing something different to the beginning of my chapters from now on. Based on the way my story is written, I decided every chapter I update in the future will have a snippet of the last chapter in it. However, the snippet will be of the characters last encounter. For example, next chapter will be switching to Alex and instead of adding a snippet from this chapter which is Noah's, perceptive, I will add a snippet from Chapter 2, the last time we encountered Alex. This will help the reader - you - remember what happened and have to flip back to previous chapters!

Tell me what you think about this? Good move or will it take away from flow of the story? I always want to make your reading experience enjoyable! Anyways, I had so much writing this chapter and I hope you all enjoy reading!

Warning: T for violence and profanity.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

* * *

 _Previously on Balance of Nature…_

 _Oh fuck, I recognized that logo anywhere. It felt like I was in a shitty Resident Evil movie with wannabe cosplayers but little did I know, I was in the freakin' game! It explained Wesker, who was the real deal plus the scary Umbrella employees. I loved the Resident Evil series - playing the first one when it came out to the fifth one - but this was too extreme, even for me._

 _My only word of reaction; shit._

Chapter 4: Evaluation

 **Noah**

Ask how in the bloody hell I ended up in Resident Evil? I had _no_ freakin' clue.

I usually slept through physics class at school but I wasn't as dumb as a lamppost. This was not possible. Well, I supposed it was possible now since I was in a video game. But doesn't that deny, like, every theory or law ever written? We all knew fiction and reality were two different worlds that never intertwined. Yet here I was, alive and living in the Resident Evil series.

I didn't even know what Resident Evil game or timeframe I was sucked in. Since Wesker had been a villain in all of them and I couldn't tell which game I was. I couldn't even tell what console it played on by the graphics since everything looked real, no it _was real_.

Nothing was digitalized or paper thin, nothing felt different. The air was the same, colours were the same, everything was the same.

Wait... if I was sucked in a Resident Evil game, is it the fourth one? It would make the most sense since before Alex body checked me to ground, I just pressed play on the controller. And I wasn't sure if I was imagining this but I swore I heard the signature 'Resident Evil 4' title announced before I blacked out. But even if I was sucked in, why was I brought here? With Wesker? Shouldn't I be kicking Ganado ass alongside Leon and not be imprisoned by the villain of the series?

I didn't even know what Wesker wanted to do with me. I just hoped I wasn't injected with anything, the last thing I needed was a virus or sample inside of me. But the gauze on my arm wasn't a good sign. Neither was being in an Umbrella facility. If I wasn't saving Ashley with Leon, who was?

Was Alex brought here too?

It seemed likely since we were together when I was blacked out. Was she with Leon? She didn't even deserve it, that should be me! But as much as I disliked my sister - and jealous I was - , I knew she wouldn't stand a chance in this world. I needed to find her, _now_.

And on the other hand, although being sucked in the game was quite shocking and stressful, I couldn't help but feel the rising turmoil of excitement that loomed in the pit of my stomach. I meant, c'mon, when has anyone _ever_ been able to be physically be transported into their favourite game? I could become, like, the next Chris Redfield or Leon S. Kennedy.

It would be awesome if I got the chance to meet them.

But that still didn't mean I forgot the fact I wasn't in my world and practically trapped here with no way of knowing how to get home. Which I did _plan_ on returning to. Being here was cool and all but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life here, I wasn't a complete nut-job.

 _Okay. Think Noah, think. You're stuck in Resident Evil 4. What's the only logical way to get out? Finish the game._ I thought to myself, _But how the hell am I supposed to finish the game and save Ashley if I'm not with Leon?_

But what if I was brought to Wesker for a reason? What if I had to play along and help Wesker? Of course, I wouldn't actually _help_ him, that guy was batshit crazy but if I betrayed him and made an enemy out of him, would that affect the course of the game? I couldn't risk it, from all the games and movies I have played and watched, I know not to stir the pot.

My one advantage was that I have played Resident Evil 4 at least ten times. I knew the game inside and out, I knew every strategy, plot twist and ending.

I concluded my game plan - literally - : play nice with Wesker, get him to trust me and when the perfect moment arrives, betray his sorry ass, find Alex and save Ashley, finish the game and get the hell out of here.

I could do this, I thought as I gave myself a mental pat on the back and turned around.

* * *

The new room was pitch black for exception of the three lit pedestals and a crystal globe that sat in middle of the room. Where was I now?

I wasn't shirtless anymore, I was dressed for combat. I sported black cargo pants, durable black boots and a black t-shirt with pockets and holsters attached to the entire outfit. I was also wearing a metallic watch strapped onto my left wrist.

Oh shit, this was getting weirder and weirder by the second. But I couldn't deny the fact that I looked like a _total badass._

It seemed like Wesker warped me into an imaginary landscape to test my abilities, a simulation. I'll be damned, that was impossible with today's technology but not in Resident Evil world. Practically everything was possible here. Wherever I was warped to I could feel, touch, smell and hear. I had all my senses and all my abilities. The simulation felt real, and creepy at the same time. The things that sat in front of weren't real but they sure as hell looked like they were.

Approaching the pedestals, I saw three weapons. Three weapons I had no idea how to use.

I swore if rabid dogs or zombies attacked me, I was going to lose my shit. I picked up the knife and flipped it in my hand. It can't be too hard to shank, can it? I stuffed the knife in the pocket and picked up the next two weapons. A pistol and a shotgun.

I cooed, "What do we have here..." Although I was nervous to the point I could piss my pants, I felt giddy to be amidst these weapons and be able handle them. Oh please, don't blame me, every guy was like that.

Luckily, from all the video games I played, I knew what type of guns they were. I thought I could easily learn how to reload and position them but aiming was a completely different problem, a big one too. I hoped and prayed to shoot well. If I didn't please Wesker during this Evaluation, I had no idea what would happen to me.

Could I even die in the simulation? Could I even die in this _world_? There was only one way to find out and I surely didn't plan to try to figure it out.

"Whatever." I muttered to myself.

Before I went to the crystal ball, a voice erupted and echoed throughout the vast dark room. Her voice was robotic and her words were spaced out. It was eerie.

"Classification: test subject. Number: 45" She said, "When you touch the crystal orb, you will transported to an imaginary landscape. Your goal in this landscape is to reach the crystal ball in under ten minutes. You will be able to take physical damage in the three landscapes." _Great_.

"Good luck, number 45." What, I was a number now?

I took hold of the last two weapons before I headed toward the crystal ball. As I neared it, there was an immediate strong pull to it and no matter how much resistance I could of given, I rested my palm on the cold crystal.

The feeling of being warped somewhere was nothing like I expected. In fact, it didn't feel like anything at all. There was no sensation of being dropped or falling into a black hole. It was like with a snap of the fingers, then boom, you were in a completely new area. But something felt _different_ this time when I opened my eyes. I couldn't explain it but I felt more, buzzed, I supposed.

"Where am I now?"

I turned a 360 and scanned my surroundings. Looking upwards at the night sky, there were a million stars alongside a full moon. The air I breathed was fresh and cold. I shifted my gaze at the tall skyline. Build boards with Korean words and products were scattered everywhere and the city looked bright. Everything seemed real and lit.

And you may ask how I was able to see this beautiful view? Because I was atop a skyscraper. A-tall-freakin'-skyscraper.

"Where is it?" I stuttered casting my eyes all around. I finally spotted the orb, it looked out of ordinary in the landscape and glistened in the moonlight atop another skyscraper.

The problem was that the skyscraper was three buildings away and I had no idea how to get to it. If I took the elevator down and took the easy route down, too much time would be wasted and I would fail. I was already wasting enough time as it was.

I needed to get there fast but I wasn't a parkour specialist. _Man up,_ I thought as I clenched my jaw and stood over the ledge and examined the jump toward the other building was. There was a balcony that I jump on and get through the building that way. I could make that, I thought. I couldn't waste anymore time, I needed to get a move on.

I was shaken out of thought as I heard a helicopter's wings circulate in the distance. I saw it in the distance. What was it doing here?

The chopper spotted me with its bright light and I lifted my hands atop my forehead to shade my eyes from the rays. But before I thought it was going to throw a rope ladder down or land, the freakin' chopper started loading bullets at me.

"Shit!" I shouted as I got behind the ledge of the building. It was small and didn't protect me fully from the raining hell. The shots were chipping the brick wall and crumbled to my feet.

As this were not difficult on its own. They just _had_ to test me to the limit. I didn't have time for this, I needed to get to the crystal orb now. I looked at my watch, _8 minutes and 25 seconds left_.

Taking a deep breath, I muttered, "I can do this."

I exhaled and scrambled to my feet. I looked down and it was a long way. The bullets continued aiming at me but weren't able glaze as I exhaled through my nose and jumped over the ledge.

The sensation was vivid. It was amazing, a sense of exhilaration I have never felt before . I landed on the balcony roughly.

That was when I ran, ran like I have never ran before.

As I sprinted through through the house and stairs, I didn't feel fazed or tired. But what was weird was that although my thoughts were rushed, my heart felt calm and beat at a steady pace. I was an athlete but I knew limits and capabilities.

One thing that was certain was, I exceeded them greatly. At this time, I would already be tired but I felt energized, alive.

Was this what adrenaline felt like? But something felt superhuman, I practically felt the energy oozing out of my fingertips and I had impossible endurance, able to sprint through the first building and onto the roof in less than 2 minutes.

I cleared my head as I stepped foot on the rooftop, I could see the orb, it was atop another few buildings. The chopper was still on my tail but because of my incredible speed, the bullets were not able to even graze me.

I easily jumped across the skyscrapers and when I lifted my head to spot the crystal ball, I realized the orb was atop a building higher than me. Since I stood stationary for a few moments, the chopper gained on me. It started to blow shots on the ground a few meters away from me.

I shook my head violently and examined the skyscraper that was higher than me. There was no balcony or window I could jump into and the wall was too flat to climb.

But there was a rope.

Without a second thought, I jumped off the skyscraper with a fast breath and flailed around in an attempt to grab the rope. As I was in the air, I leached my hands around it but slid down a few meters. I quickly regained my composure and lifted my head higher and begun to hoist myself up the rope.

This newly found upper and lower body strength was questionable. How was I able to do all of this?, I thought to myself as I hoisted myself higher up the rope. The most odd part about the whole ordeal was I was having _no_ trouble climbing the the unknotted rope.

It was when I strapped up my arm over the skyscraper edge, I realized everything I was doing now was impossible in my world. I was practically jumping like I had boosters on my feet.

But then it me, I played Resident Evil 4. I know _all_ about Jack Krauser. And whatever they put in him to give him superhuman abilities, I thought they put it in me too. Well, shit.

After I made my way to the rooftop, the orb was in view. The chopper was nearing and still spraying bullets at me. Luckily, none hit me as I slammed my hand atop of it and the chopper stopped and flew away.

Before the landscape morphed into the second one, the woman informed. before the landscape morphed the woman's voice informed, "Time to complete, 5.35 minutes. Endurance, passed. Agility, passed. Speed, passed. You successfully completed Landscape 1."

Two more to go.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for that cliffy! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed, review!


	5. Chapter 5: The Village

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the nice reviews hope they keep coming. So this chapter will piggyback on what I stated in last author's note and switch back to Alex's perspective. As you could tell by now, the Black twins have very different personalities so hopefully that will make it easier to read the different POV's.

And I wanted to point out that I understand that some of you guys might not like Alex's character because she may be too _scared_ or a _wimp_. But if I was in her position, I would be even more terrified. I wanted to make her realistic and not start her off as a fearless killing Ganado machine, not yet at least ;)

Warning: T for violence and profanity.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

* * *

 _Previously on Balance of Nature…_

 _He looked at me curiously with knitted eyebrows, "You must've hit your head pretty hard." He continued, "But the date is August 28th, 2004." What. The. Actual. Hell._

" _The subject's name is Ashley Graham."_

 _I shakily lifted the picture in my hands and looked Leon. I compared the two, looking at the picture and him while shifting my eyes back and forth. That was when the memory came back._

 _Oh my god._

 _Leon. Ashley. Leon and Ashley from the video game. I couldn't go home because home didn't exist._

 _I wasn't even in my world. I was in a video game._

Chapter 5: The Village

 **Alex**

I could not believe it. I was in a fictional world. Oh god, how did I get myself stuck into this mess?

I didn't even have an idea what the title of the video game was but it was Noah's favourite. I wondered if he was here too. Noah played the game a million times, he had to know what do because for once in my life, I didn't.

I didn't know what this game was about or the objective was. I knew some details, I knew Leon was the main character on a mission to save the President's daughter...and I was with him. But that was it. I didn't where would be going, what would happen, who the villain was or when the ending was. But the game was was R-rated, I sure as hell knew the game wouldn't consist of petting cuddly animals and by the looks of the events that occurred so far, it was no walk in the park.

"You keeping up alright?"

Quickly pivoting my head, I turned to Leon who was waiting for me on the other side of the bridge. I forgot I even stopped walking.

I responded unsurely, "Yeah." Yet I hadn't made any notion of stepping on the bridge.

It looked old and unsturdy. I felt that once I put my entire weight on it, It would collapse any second. Was it possible to even die in this world? Oh god, I wasn't even going to think about it.

"Wait," Leon chuckled, "You're afraid of heights, aren't you?" It seemed the video game character had a sense of humour.

I wasn't necessarily afraid of heights but the bridge looked awfully flimsy. Let's just say I wasn't scared, I was just being _cautious_. Suck it up, I thought as I stepped my right foot on the rickety bridge. It lightly swayed with many steps but was easy enough to cross over. I only managed to cross it because I… just didn't look down.

As I met up with Leon, I bristled, "Piece of cake."

Before he could say anything else, a shout erupted from three strange humans atop the cliff. They quickly ran away before Leon could engage.

I let out the breath I held and wrapped my hands underneath my arms as the cold wind hit my body. Luckily, I wore a sweater and jeans but the temperature grew more chilly and my hands were freezing.

God, whenever I saw those _things_ , I felt like I lost a year to my overall age and a gray strand hair appear on my dark hair. I have never been physically attacked by someone until today and it was not a pleasant feeling, obviously. The quick sweatiness of my palms and the quickened beat of my heart was something I was not used to and I didn't enjoy it. In fact, I felt so vulnerable. I never thought I would be capable of feeling like that. But as I followed Leon through the area, a sense of security and safety surrounded me.

"Let's move." He said and I gave him a small nod.

Following him, I checked the time to check Leon out, well I didn't actually _check_ him out. I examined him.

He looked real, _so_ real. It seemed like he was a real person, but was he not? As long as I was in this - _his_ \- world, the game did not exist, everything was existing and non-fiction. Everything went. Safe to say, he looked real as ever and was attractive as any male in my world.

We approached another shed and Leon easily shot the hostile human down and entered. I jumped when I saw the woman on the wall. The _dead_ woman on the wall. Although the scene was gory and disgusting, I couldn't look away.

Leon snorted. He said sarcastically, "Guess there's no sex discrimination here."

I asked, "Do you think the President's daughter is okay?" I really wished Ashley would be okay. If we didn't rescue her, I didn't know what that meant.

"I hope so." He said before grabbing a few items and arriving at a large metal gate with an unfamiliar emblem design on it.

Leon swung the gate open and abruptly, a static hum occurred. He quickly took out his _walkie-talkie?_ People still used those here? Maybe this world wasn't that different.

But it was more than a walkie-talkie, it was more of a communicator since Leon could see the woman and the other way around. I could also hear their conversation but chose not to and leaned against a nearby tree and waited.

I couldn't make out the receivers words but Leon responded, "Bad question, Hunnigan."

Would he get in trouble that he brought me along? I hoped not, I _really_ didn't want to be trekking through this forest alone.

"Hunnigan...I brought someone along with me." Leon did not speak as he heard her response. I bet whoever they were, was surprised and _pissed_. It seemed quite odd a young American girl in the middle of a rural village to show up.

He told her, "Her name is Alex Black." The receiver on the other end was probably going to look me up and _find absolutely nothing._ If she was suspicious, Leon would soon to be too.

"Listen, it was my choice to take her along. I couldn't just leave her." After a few moments, he finished, "Extracting the subject is my top priority, I get that but she's coming along."

After listening to what Hunnigan said, he turned off his communicator and walked toward me.

"I didn't mean to get you in trouble." I said, feeling partially guilty.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Forget about that. Let's keep moving."

We began to move along the path but he immediately stopped in his tracks and grabbed my wrist, pulling me behind a nearby tree. Leon pulled out his binoculars and looked onwards to the village.

He groaned, "Who are these people?"

I asked, quite bravely, "Could I take a look?" He looked surprised I asked but handed the binoculars anyway.

I quickly looked through the lens and my mouth formed a small oval as I beheld the event. At first glance, the village seemed normal, with the residents carrying their daily lifestyle and routine. But that didn't excuse that in the middle of the village was a dead man on fire on a wooden pole. Although his outfit was burnt to the crisp, I could tell he wore a police officer uniform. It was unnerving and frightening. They burned the policeman alive.

Leon could say that again, _who the hell are these people?_

"Alex, listen to me," He turned to me, "When we head in there, I want you to climb the tower right away. I'll handle them from down here." He could handle _all_ of them? There was a lot of them. But he was the main character of the game, he could handle it, right?

I nodded my head and we walked forward a few steps before we took a more discreet path to the left. We were faced with a woman shovelling hay. She did not notice that we were behind her and continued her normal activity.

Not a minute later, Leon shot the woman in the head three times for her to crumple to the ground. I didn't know when I would get used to that, or if I ever would.

The gunshot attracted all of the villagers and suddenly their screams echoed throughout the vast area.

Leon grasped my cold hand and picked up the woman's pitchfork in the other. We ran to the tower where I could easily see all the villagers who were closing on us. Menacing screams and intimidating poses captured me.

"Take this," He gave me the pitchfork. "And climb!" With that, he lightly pushed me in the direction of the ladder and glancing one last look at the deadly crowd.

"Are you sure you can handle that?" I asked unsurely.

"Just climb!" He commanded and I obeyed. I pulled the pitchfork in my right hand and began to climb the tall ladder.

After I made it to the top, I quickly rushed toward the lookout and searched for Leon. He went inside the house and shut the door behind him. Not having a view of him anymore made me anxious. I needed him to live, I couldn't save Ashley by myself.

Suddenly, I heard the turing roar of a chainsaw.

One of them had a chainsaw. One of the humans lifted a ladder above the window and broke the glass. They single handed began to climb the ladder but were quickly shot off with a loud bang and a second later, Leon jumped out the window like a professional. He was really good at that.

I cursed inside my head and watched him. I felt...useless. I didn't think I would be able to fight them all but having him do this alone while I was sitting high and pretty, didn't feel right.

He now acquired a shotgun and was pumping bullets at the crowd but the chainsaw man didn't quiver. He continued to shoot but a villager quickly got ahold of him and my breath caught. Leon hastily got out of his grip and shot at them once more but a clicking noise occurred instead. He swore and ran.

He was going to run out of bullets sooner or later. And it was not later. I couldn't just sit here, we needed help, even if all he needed was for me to bring him ammo, that was fine. All I knew I needed to do something.

Letting out a deep breath, I fastened the pitchfork underneath my arm and climbed down the ladder. The villagers and chainsaw man didn't notice me. I quietly walked to my left and picked up ammo and a green plant. Whatever it was, Leon had used it so he was probably going to need it again.

I set a glance at Leon and noticed he was being cornered by the chainsaw man. He didn't have bullets anymore. Oh god, I have to do something or else he was going to die!

Instinctively and stupidly, I ran around the crowd of hostile humans. The chainsaw man was going to rip him to shreds if I wasn't quicker.

Sprinting, I took ahold of the pitchfork in my dominant hand and with one last look at Leon and the chainsaw man, I gathered all my strength, all my power and shoved the pitchfork into the man's back.

I quickly turned away to be faced with hostile humans but in front of me the chainsaw man slowly rotated toward me and I fell to the ground. It wasn't dead. It walked slowly toward me with the roar but as quickly as he turned, he clutched his chest and slid down. He quickly turned to powder after.

I killed him. I actually killed him. I didn't know whether to feel remorse or relief.

Leon kicked the villagers behind me but they did not die and quickly turned to me.

"Alex!" I took his hand and he helped me up. He picked up the ammo that dropped my hands and reloaded to shoot at the angry crowd.

 _DING-DING!_

A clock tower suddenly rang in the midst. What was surprising, the people stopped approaching Leon and I. They all simultaneously peered up, turned around and started muttering in Spanish.

I could not hear a word they spoke.

They then slowly paced to a door with a symbol on it. As the door swung open, they walked in and disappeared. Leon and I ran to the middle of the village.

"Where's everyone going? Bingo?" He said as he turned around and scanned the area.

Did he really just say that?

But that was weird. Really weird. One minute they were bloodthirsty hounds and the next they calmly disengaged.

Hunnigan called before we could continue. Leon told her, "Hunnigan, I've some bad new. I've confirmed the body of an officer." He shifted a look at the door where the humans escaped to. "Something's happened to the people here."

After a few minutes, Leon conducted his conversation with Hunnigan and she told us to follow a the path along the tower I was in previously.

"That's it." I affirmed, pointing in the direction.

Leon called, "Let's get moving." And we walked along the path toward the wooden door, exiting the village, both of us never looking back.

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed, leave a review :) They really help quicken my writing process because sometimes I feel like nobody reads my story. I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Maybe, just maybe don't read FanFiction for one day! Spend time with your beloved family or friends and spread holiday joy! Have a great day everybody!


	6. Chapter 6: The Big Cheese

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! Anyways, enjoy this chapter!

Warning: T for violence and profanity.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

* * *

 _Previously on Balance of Nature…_

" _Hunnigan, I've some bad new. I've confirmed the body of an officer." He shifted a look at the door where the humans escaped to. "Something's happened to the people here."_

 _After a few minutes, Leon conducted his conversation with Hunnigan and she told us to follow a the path along the tower I was in previously._

" _That's it." I affirmed, pointing in the direction._

 _Leon called, "Let's get moving." And we walked along the path toward the wooden door, exiting the village, both of us never looking back._

Chapter 6: The Big Cheese

I looked at the intrusion alert immediately as we entered the shed.

It read, ' _Recently there has been information that a United States government agent is here and investigating. But the agent is not alone, he is accompanied by a girl. Do not let the American agent and the unnamed girl near the prisoner.'_

Leon gestured to pass the paper and I did. He took the piece of paper I handed him and read it for himself. Meanwhile, I picked up the pictures that were sprawled on the wooden table. There were plenty of them, mostly of Leon, some of me, and a few of both us together. I wondered who took these and when. While Leon and I were walking through the village and path, I hadn't heard a rustle of leaves or even a hum in the distance. Who have been watching us the whole time? The whole alert and thought of someone following us was creepy and I pushed it to the back of my mind.

"They didn't kidnap you, Alex." Leon stated, flipping the paper to read the back. "They don't even know who you are."

While doing so, he shifted an uneasy glance at me. Was he...getting suspicious?

"Are you _sure_ you don't remember how you ended up here?" He asked, with a more questioning tone.

Now I _knew_ he was getting suspicious. _Come up with a lie, quick._

I asked, changing the subject, "Do you really think I have amnesia?"

"Not remembering how you ended up here sure sounds like you do. Plus the welt doesn't look too good."

I consciously lifted my fingertips onto it. I could feel a tiny bump and a small cut but I knew I didn't have amnesia. At least I didn't think I did. My best guess was that I got the bruise when I was _dropped_ into this world. But a guess was a guess and nothing was written in stone, not in my terms.

Leon looked at me awaiting a response and I tilted my chin to look into his eyes.

"I remember something, Leon. I know why I am in Spain, I came to the country on vacation a week ago but I have no clue how I ended up here." A complete, utter lie.

He furrowed his brows and confusion crossed over his face for a split second before returning to normal. What was that about?

He started, "So you have family here? Then we cou-"

I interrupted, "My family isn't here. I came to Spain...alone."

He stood silent and I couldn't quite look into his eyes yet. I wasn't the best liar. I pretended to be interested in the pictures.

"Where are you from again?"

"Brooklyn, New York. Been there?" I asked, trying my best to be causal. "New York City?"

"Once," He said nonchalantly. "How old are you anyway?"

 _That was a good question._

I could get him to believe I was fifteen or thirty years of age, it was not like this world had documents or kept counts on me. If I was correct, this world would never have heard of Alex Black and she did not exist.

But I didn't really know what my age was. In my world, I was eighteen years old but it was 2004, did that technically make me _eleven?_ I surely didn't look eleven. Leon kept waiting on me for an answer and I shook my head out of thought.

I said, "I'm 18."

"You go to college?" _College_? Not _yet_ at least.

"I have an early birthday-" I bit my tongue.

Before I could say that I was still in highschool, I shut up. If I was truly eighteen, I would be college and have already graduated school. It was late summer of 2004 not 2012. And if I was eighteen in 2004, I would be born in 1986 and be attending college. God, this was confusing.

"Yeah, I go college." I said proudly, "I go to Yale."

A girl could dream.

Yale seemed to exist in this world as he looked impressed. It felt odd, pretending to skip senior year, graduation and prom. Which reminded me about the phone in my pocket. I could not check now since Leon was watching but I would later. If it still read the same time as before, I didn't know what to think.

Was it possible that time stopped back in my world? Was it possible I never missed my get together with my friends or my study date with, _oh god,_ what was his name? Was it possible that all of these events have not passed…that the clock didn't tick. But that was impossible! Physics would prove that wrong. It was impossible to disrupt the flow of time because it was non-matter. Stopping time would be like something faster than the speed of light. It didn't exist.

I would only have to get home to find out. But that was easier said than done.

"Hasn't your semester started? What are you doing in Spain then?" Leon protested.

I answered, "It starts next week." I shifted my eyes. I honestly said for once, "I need to get home by then."

I've built myself a quite large web of lies. Hopefully I could remember it all.

"Anything else to tell me?" He said defensively.

"No," I questioned with a raised brow, "Do you think I'm not telling you everything?"

Little did he know that I was telling him nothing of truth or relevance. I obviously wouldn't tell him everything, let alone _anything_. What, just go up to him and say I was trapped into a game and he was the fictional main character. _He would totally believe that._

"I believe you," He sighed, "I'm not exactly sure why but I do."

I gave him a genuine small smile.

"Well, where to next? Where's Ashley?" I asked.

"From the alert, it said she was in an old house beyond the farm. We'll head there."

I asked, a bit tense, "So we go there, save her and go home...right?"

Leon saw my face expression and he lifted a lingering hand on my arm. My first reaction was to shake it off but I didn't.

"Exactly, easy as that." He assured. "Don't worry, Alex. I'll get you out of here, you shouldn't be involved in something like this anyway."

 _Damn right._ I shouldn't be involved at all. I shouldn't be here with Leon. I didn't understand why or how this happened to me but I really didn't care. How to get home was the only question I asked and want answered.

Leon removed his hand on my shoulder and I refrained myself from speaking. I wanted to make him promise, that he would keep his word. But I knew this game revolved around Leon and Ashley. His mission was to rescue the President's daughter, not me. He was a government agent on a job and he would get it done no matter what.

* * *

"You want me to climb over it? _Alone?_ "

Leon clarified, "I'm gonna give you a leg up and open it from the other side. This way is shorter."

"If you say so." I said, hesitant.

"Alex you can do it," He sighed. "Or you would rather we take the long way around and face more enemies?"

No, definitely not. Arriving at this wooden gate was harder as itself. Those annoying humans kept appearing in every nook and corner, they wouldn't stop lunging at us. But Leon was easily capable of picking them off by when while I stood in the background, finding him green herbs and ammo. It wasn't much but at least I was doing something.

I was no hero but I still felt useless not helping Leon with these strange humans.

I surely said, "No, I can do it."

Leon offered a small smirk which I returned before he stood in front of the gate with his hands out. I took several steps back and peered at the gate.

"Whenever your ready."

Taking his word, I ran towards Leon and he lowered to the ground and lifted my left foot off the ground as I pushed my upper body atop the gate and jumped down. When on the other side, I unlocked the gate with a lift of the wooden ply.

"It's unlocked!"

With that, Leon pushed open the gate and said, "See? Wasn't too hard."

I admitted, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

I rolled my eyes lightheartedly and followed him. The path we followed was secluded and had no strange humans. It was nearly inside the forest and I had no idea where it would lead.

After following the path with luckily, no commotion, we stepped out of the forest to be faced with the side of a house. The outside panel was white wood and the house was larger than the rest.

Leon quickly walked towards it and I asked, "We're going in there?"

Looking over his shoulder, he said, "There might be some clues in there." Nodding my head, we approached the entrance.

"Stand back." Leon warned before he aimed his pistol and shot the lock right off. He pushed open the metal door and walked in with me close behind.

The room was dim with no candle or light. There was a dining table in the middle with a dirty white cloth draped over it and a few chairs tucked under. The room had nothing of interest or value in it but when I entered it I heard a strange constant noise.

A pounding of some sort.

"Do you hear that?"

He said, lifting his gun higher cautiously, "Yeah I hear it. Let's go investigate."

Entering the hallway, Leon pulled his arm out in front of me to stop me from continuing. I realized why he did the notion when I looked right. There was a trap placed in the doorframe. After he shot it, we entered the living room.

A fireplace with two comfy looking chairs sat in the far back. It looked odd, this whole place seemed to have one colour palette. Dark. I hadn't seen any colour except, not to sound cliche, for Leon's blue eyes, who was looking in a nearby nightstand for supplies

At first glance, the room seemed to be a dead end but as I looked to my left, I examined the bookcase. Well, what was behind it interested me and the noise that came with it. The pounding of was louder and there were cracks in the wall. As I walked towards it, I saw through the slim passage, a light, perhaps a room.

"Leon, help me move this bookcase."

He looked confused but obliged anyways. He stood near and placed his hands beside mine of the case.

He stated, "On three. 1, 2, 3." With force we pushed the bookcase the other direction and it fell diagonally atop the wall.

"I think whoever placed the bookcase there had different ideas of _hidden room._ " I said to Leon as we entered the narrow room.

"Wait," Leon stopped. I listened to the silence and the pounding was louder but it seemed to be also coming from the cabinet in the corner. He lifted a finger to his lips, "Shhh."

I did as told and silently tip-toed to the source of the pounding. It sounded like there was a person in there and looked like it too with the doors banging open. The real question was if they were friendly or hostile.

A few seconds later, Leon took ahold of my shoulder forcing me to look at him. He didn't speak but he pointed to the cabinet. He motioned to open the door and I slightly nodded my head before heading to it.

I stood to the right of it. I peered at Leon who was armed and ready to attack any minute for whatever was coming out of the cabinet. Not a moment later, I flicked the lock on the cabinet door open and slowly opened the door. It made a long creaky drawl.

But what came out of it wasn't hostile, he was tied up with duct tape plastered over his mouth.

Quickly falling on the ground to him, I begin to take the duct tape off the unarmed stranger but Leon does it for me, rapidly ripping it off his face. That had to hurt.

"Are you alright?" I asked the man.

He wore brown pants with a belt and cowboy esque vest. He had dark hair that reached his shoulders, blue eyes and a stubble on his chin.

"It was a little rough." He responded with a Spanish accent.

Leon turned him around and cut off the rope that banded his wrists.

Suddenly, the stranger asked, "You're not like them?"

"No, you?" Leon replied. The stranger shook his head before sitting up.

"I only have two important questions," He said. "One, do you have a smoke?"

Leon briskly replied, "Got gum." Gum? What brand?

I added, "You have gum? Can I have one?"

He took it out of his pocket and tossed the packet. Catching it, I looked at the brand with a dropped jaw. _Mint Fresh_. We has that brand back home...does that mean there are other brands from my world in this?

I popped the gum in my mouth and chewed. Tasted exactly the same.

"My second question," The stranger said, "And what is your name beautiful?"

Was he talking to me?

Before I could tell him to take a hike, a few hostile humans entered the room. But what made me worried was the large man behind them. He was bald with long black facial hair and surprisingly had two colored eyes, one of them breathtakingly red.

"Perfect," The stranger muttered under his breath. "The Big Cheese."

Without any thought, Leon rushed towards the approaching large man and tried to kick him backwards.

But...that didn't work. The Big Cheese caught Leon's foot and he tumbled into the air, straight on top of the stranger and I.

I went black.

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! Tell me what you thought, review! I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas and I wish you guys a wonderful New Years! Happy Holidays!


	7. Chapter 7: Gunslinger Supreme

A/N: Hey guys! New Year's has passed and I hoped you all had a great year and wish you an amazing upcoming one! What are your resolutions this year? An important one of mine is to finish Balance of Nature this year because why not! But anyways enjoy reading and have a great day :)

This chapter will also switch back to Noah.

Warning: T for violence and profanity.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

* * *

 _Previously on Balance of Nature…_

 _But then it hit me, I played Resident Evil 4. I know all about Jack Krauser. And whatever they put in him to give him superhuman abilities, I thought they put it in me too. Well, shit._

 _After I made my way to the rooftop, the orb was in view. The chopper was nearing and still spraying bullets at me. Luckily, none hit me as I slammed my hand atop of it and the chopper stopped and flew away._

 _Before the landscape morphed into the second one, the woman informed. before the landscape morphed the woman's voice informed, "Time to complete, 5.35 minutes. Endurance, passed. Agility, passed. Speed, passed. You successfully completed Landscape 1."_

 _Two more to go._

Chapter 7: Gunslinger Supreme

 **Noah**

Now how the hell was I supposed to get myself _out_ _of_ _this_?

The bastard Wesker genetically modified me like he did Krauser. Put the T-virus in me like I was some sort of test subject, a guinea pig. When I was sucked into this world did Wesker think to himself, _oh yes, a random boy that is lying unconscious, bring him to me. He must be special, let's inject him with something!_

Because that sure as hell seemed like what happened.

What were even his intentions of infecting me? He probably needed an extra super soldier tied around his finger but why me? I still didn't fully understand why he chose to modify me.

I wasn't dumb, not very book smart but definitely not _dumb_ and I knew Wesker. I knew his plans, ideas, morals. The Resident Evil series had always made a huge emphasis on them. He had no limitations and that was what made him fearful.

But I wasn't scared of him, I couldn't allow myself to be. Although I was beyond pissed off, I knew what I had to do and I had to get it done. That could be the virus talking but I felt more in control than ever. I needed to continue my original game plan of getting Wesker to trust me long enough until I could find out if Alex is here as well.

With the newly found virus in me, did my chances of finding my sister, going home be gone? Was he able to control me with this virus? I knew that was what he did to Jill in the fifth game. I violently shook my head out of the thought. I needed answers and when I would see Wesker, I'm getting some.

This was no time to think. I had two more landscapes to complete.

I lifted my eyes open to be faced with the second landscape. It was very different compared to the Korean skyline, with a dark cobblestoned tunnel at my sides and a bright white light that shined at the end. The dirt on the ground was beige sand, my heavy boots sunk in. Which caused me to glance down at my clothes before rushing any further to the light. I was still wearing the black uniform and luckily my weapons were still strapped on, they had not fallen while I was running for my freakin' life on the skyscrapers.

I checked my watch only to quickly shade my eyes from the hot rays of heat sent onto my bare arms. It was kind of mind boggling, like, I knew this was all fake, a stimulation but it sure as hell felt real. Including pain.

Looking in front of me, the crystal ball was sitting in an adjacent tunnel of the large area. It was several steps away but reachable, for now.

As I walked out of the tunnel and into the area, a set of spikes dropped down on the two tunnels, trapping the crystal ball to resist me from reaching it. Somehow I was not surprised. Nothing was ever _that_ easy. But I didn't feel annoyed, I felt ready.

"Let's do this." I muttered to myself. I only had 10 minutes to dis landscape and I already wasted two.

I surveyed the circular area rapidly. It looked like a...Colosseum? The dueling ring seemed to be exactly the place the gladiators fought. There were stands for viewers but of course they were completely empty. There were broken columns good for cover and protection. Sweat dripped down my neck, the temperature of the landscape didn't bother me, the wasted time did. I didn't know what to do. Checking my watch, I realized I wasted three minutes. Was there something else I was supposed to do?

As if on cue, I heard a thump. Long, constant thumps that slightly shook the ground every step it took. I became more alert as I readied for whatever to charge at me. To kill whatever was coming after me was the objective of this landscape, at least I hoped that was it. I spun around, listening for the source and origin of the sound. This may sound far-fetched but I swore my hearing increased immensely. I wondered if that was because of the virus.

Suddenly a loud crash of bricks erupted to my left. Turing, my eyes widened as I saw it break through the brick wall. I recognized it the second I saw it emerge into view.

" _Shit_."

The T-103 Model made by Umbrella otherwise known as the _Tyrant_.

It looked more horrendous in real-life than in the games.

It was tall, at least ten foot. Made of all dark gray and a muscular unclothed mutant body. The two long arms that rested at his sides glowed with venomous red and sharp teeth were tied to his sides, ready to tear me apart.

Although my heart pace quickened, I was surprisingly calm. _No, that was a lie_. I could practically feel the blood flowing through my veins, oozing from my fingers. The blood that circulated felt different than human blood, it felt like it was moving faster, stronger. My head felt like I was tied upside down, it pounded. My muscles felt stronger. The feeling was like when I went to the jump and the pump afterwards. What I was feeling right now was ten times stronger. And not only did I feel stronger, I felt more brave. As if whatever was coming at me, I could take it easily. Like I was invincible. But I had to face reality that it was just a feeling and uncertain. Who knew, first five minutes fighting with this thing and it would kill me with one swipe.

The virus they put in me had physically changed me, that was certain but as of now my thoughts remained the same. I wasn't sure if I disliked the feeling of power yet.

Okay, I had only five minutes left to do this. I could do this. I could do this. _I could do this._ Time to be a total badass.

The Tyrant slowly approached it me while I stood completely still. It was if my hands were moving by themselves and took ahold of the pistol. With one look at the glock, I felt that I had thirty years of experience of being a solider. I knew how to reload, how to aim and shoot. And I was confident. Well as confident a guy can be as being trapped in Resident Evil.

When it came closer I was able to spot its weak spot located on the collarbone. It looked like a beating heart, easy to shoot. I remembered from the first Resident Evil, Chris -who I chose to play every time- easily took it down with a few magnum shots. I had a shotgun but I doubted it would be as easy. Wesker tried to spray bullets all over me in the skyscraper. That guy didn't believe in the word _easy_. Or sane for that matter.

I whispered to myself, "Just a little closer…"

I only had one clip in my pistol and a set of shells in my shotgun but that was it. There wasn't any ammo laying around but I still had the knife. I really wished it wouldn't come to that, I didn't even want to touch it at all. It looked nasty.

As the Tyrant came a few steps away from me, I lifted my pistol and aimed. It came sprinting toward me and instead of running behind the nearby column, I steadied my breath and shot at the weak spot five times.

When the shots hit, it surprised _me_ more than the Tyrant. It slowed down and growled which was my cue to run.

I ran far enough to shoot at it several more times as it came rushing toward me. Some shots missed and hit his muscular body that was basically impenetrable but most shots hit the weak area. I tried to pull the trigger once more to be presented with a clicking sound.

Only twelve bullets for the pistol, that was it! Some didn't even hit him. That son of a bitch Wesker didn't even give me ammo. This was going to be a long fight.

But I didn't have time. I only had four minutes left. If I failed this landscape, well I didn't even want to know what would happen. All I knew was that I had to kill this thing and fast.

Without a thought more, I placed the useless pistol away even though all I wanted to do was through it as far away as I could. I took ahold of the shotgun and examined quickly. Alright, didn't seem to difficult to handle. Just had the pull the trigger and change the shell each time.

The Tyrant's eyes gazed at me from the other side of the me, I hadn't even noticed he came that close. Shit. A second later, his eyes hardened and a second no longer, he swayed his arm into the air and it came right at me. I practically flew like superman into the air, but I was no Clark Kent and fell straight onto my back several feet away. Thank god it was sand or else I would have broken a rib or my back which already ached like hell.

My head spinned and my thoughts were scattered. But I knew I was still in the landscape because of the disgusting sand that coughed its way into my throat. I heaved for air from the wind knocked out of me and blinked rapidly as I searched for the Tyrant and my shotgun.

Good news, it was in sight. Bad news, it was too far! Just my luck.

I couldn't stand so I began to crawl towards the shotgun. Yes. Crawl. Something I never imagined doing ever since I got out of my diapers. But as my oh so great luck went, I heard the loud stomping of the Tyrant. It was coming close and it was quick. How was I supposed to fight this thing?

"No, no, no, no, no. _Fuck_." I swore.

The Tyrant's growl erupted before I felt a tight grasp around my shirt. He wrapped his hand around my shirt and lifted me to face his ugly face. Swaying in the middle of the air by your shoulder hurt, a lot. My breathing felt like it stopped and I wondered if this was it. He was going to kill me right here and right now. And from the pain I felt right now, I sure as hell believed that I could die in this world.

But then I remembered something. I wasn't sure if it was the virus in me thinking but I suddenly stopped flailing around in his grasp.

I still had the knife strapped on me. The knife I really didn't want to end up using.

It was as if my hands were doing what they pleased and took out the knife out of the holster.

And my hands reached out unstable. And they stabbed the weak spot.

Again. And again. And again.

Shit, my hands were _strong_. Who knew.

The Tyrant growled once more before giving a low groan and releasing his grasp on me. I dropped to the floor and waited. Watching it, it gave a cry of agony before clutching the spot where I stabbed multiple times. Hey I was right! Shanking _was_ easy.

It suddenly stopped screaming and a moment later, it shattered to dust.

That was when I heard the rumble of the spikes lifting. Turing around, the untrapped crystal orb looked as desirable as ever and I sprinted toward it, wanting to waste a second no longer. As I entered the tunnel, I slapped my hand on the orb.

"Time to complete, 8.12 minutes. Strength, passed. Hand-to-Hand Combat, passed. Firearm Skill, passed. You successfully completed Landscape 2."

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed reading. Please review!


	8. Chapter 8: What It Takes

Warning: T for violence and profanity.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

* * *

 _Previously on Balance of Nature..._

 _Before I could tell him to take a hike, a few hostile humans entered the room. But what made me worried was the large man behind them. He was bald with long black facial hair and surprisingly had two colored eyes, one of them breathtakingly red._

" _Perfect," The stranger muttered under his breath. "The Big Cheese."_

 _Without any thought, Leon rushed towards the approaching large man and tried to kick him backwards._

 _But...that didn't work. The Big Cheese caught Leon's foot and he tumbled into the air, straight on top of the stranger and I._

 _Then I went black._

Chapter 8: What It Takes

 **Alex**

"Alex! Alex, wake up." _Huh?_

From what I could make out through the white ringing in my ears, someone said, "So that is the beautiful girl's name. _Alex_. Rolls right off the tongue" His voice was smooth unlike the previous voice I heard.

"Enough with that."

The voice sounded familiar, as I if I heard it plentiful. I couldn't tell exactly who it belonged since my mind was still flashing back and forth and drowsiness overtook my body.

Forcing myself, I slowly opened my eyes and blinked several times as the world came back into view. Everything was blurry but through my eyelashes, I saw two large figures in front of me. Sadly, when I lifted my eyes fully, a glimmer of disappointment arrived. Waking up from the knockout, I wasn't transported back into my world. I didn't even know why I thought that would work but a small part me still felt that this was all some _weird_ dream. Only wished it was. You eventually woke up from a dream.

This was a nightmare I couldn't escape.

"Alex, you're awake! How do you feel?"

I knew that was Leon. I recognized his voice quickly when my senses fell back into place.

"Where are we?" I asked, ignoring his question and asking about the real problem.

What had happened to us? The idea of being knocked out and waking up tied up didn't sit well with me. It was basically an episode of Law & Crime and I definitely didn't want to be that girl sold for drug money. I needed to get out of here, Spain and this useless excuse for a world. This video game may have been fun playing it but imagine being in my position. To put it lightly, being here was like being sucked into your favourite action movie. Yes, it was entertaining but almost getting killed every other minute was not _fun._

Leon promised, "We're gonna get out of here, Alex, we _all_ are."

Before I was able to respond, my forehead throbbed with pain. The bump on my head pounded and I winced. The pain cursed through me and vibrated to my neck which felt oddly numb. I wondered why. Instinctively, I began to lift my hands to touch my forehead but was immediately stopped. I shook my hands only to realize they were restrained. Tied to a wooden bar but my feet laid loosely in front of me. _Great_. But my feet were no use to me, it wasn't like I could untie the rope with my toes.

I furrowed my brows in confusion as I scanned the room. It wasn't the same area as before and looked to be a barn or shed of some sort. The windows were boarded but I was able to still see trees without leaves outside and shovels were hanging from hooks. Bundles of hay scattered the room and wood was piled in the corner.

Then my eyes rested on the Stranger and Leon who were tied together in handcuffs, he looked miserable. The Stranger was still passed out with his head hanging to one side and drool forming on his suede vest. Meanwhile, Leon was awake and alert, looking for anything to get us out of here. He wasn't wearing his jacket anymore, sporting a tight black t-shirt revealing his muscular body. There was also a knife strapped onto his chest. I wondered where his jacket went, it was quite cold here and the temperature would drop even lower into the night.

 _Oh god, please don't tell me I'm spending the night here too. I want to go home_ , I thought to myself.

That was when I was reminded of what happened.

The Big Cheese had cornered us last minute and Leon, in a final attempt to defeat it, failed and fell a top of the Stranger and I. Was he heavy? I meant, he had a good body, _a very good body_ but he was not heavyset, not one bit. Perhaps his impact on the ground was hard because the Big Cheese had toppled him over.

Considering I was behind him when the whole scene unfolded, I didn't get to have a better view until Leon came falling down on me. He caused the floor to break break while I was underneath and the last thing I remembered was pure darkness blooming into my mind. Did Leon even get injured? I had seen him doing insane moves that you would only see in movies but did he feel pain? It seemed very possible considering _I_ felt pain...but on the other hand I didn't belong here.

I called, "Leon," My hated that my voice wavered.

"What's going on?" I asked while I struggled in the rope restrain. It began to block the blood to flow to my hands, beginning to feel numb.

Leon gave me a sympathetic look before turning his attention to the Stranger whom just groaned.

Regaining consciousness, the Stranger shook his head and said solemnly, "Crawl into one hole and into another."

"Tell me what's going on here." Leon demanded of him.

The Stranger turned to me. The look caused me to gulp down the knot that was stuck in my throat. This guy didn't seem too dangerous but he sure made me feel uneasy. But I guessed everyone here made me feel like that.

" _Americanas, si?_ Now what brings a bloke like you into this part of the world?" He turned to me. "And what of you, _Alex_ , how did a pretty girl like you end up here?"

I swore if he didn't stop hitting on me - or if I wasn't tied up - I was ready to whack him with the nearby shovel. Actually I was ready to whack anything with a nearby shovel from pure anger.

Leon seemed to respond harshly with the comment and twisted the handcuffs, making the Stranger loudly call out, "Easy, now. _Whoever_ you are."

The Stranger didn't send another look at me. A part of me wondered why Leon did that. It wasn't as if cared. At least I didn't think he did.

"My name's Leon," He managed to reach into his pocket and took out the picture of Ashley. "Came here looking for this girl. Seen her?"

The Stranger glanced at the picture. "What? You supposed to be a cop?" He paused, "Nah, you don't look the type."

"Let me guess...she's the President's daughter," He said more like a answer than a question.

I added with a raised brow, "How did you know that?" Who was this man? Was he important to this game? More importantly was he friendly or _dangerous_?

He glanced over at me and seemed to resist adding a wink. He said mystically, "Psychic powers," What? _Did that exist in this world?_ Oh god, I needed to talk Noah. I had no idea what was happening.

The Stranger looked at my expression and chuckled, "I'm just kidding with you, Alex. I overheard the villagers talking about her in the church. A secret passage in the village might lead you right to it."

Leon asked, "And who might you be?"

"Me amo, Luis Sera. Used to be a cop in Madrid." Madrid, I have always wanted to go there. I wondered if it was any different. "Now I am just a good for nothing guy, who happens to be quite the ladies man." He now thought to send a wink toward me. Leon didn't catch it.

"Why'd you quit?"

" _Policia,_ you put your life on the line and nobody appreciates you. Being a hero isn't what it used to be." That sounded terribly gloomy.

Leon brought his head back into thought. He suddenly began, "Used to be cop myself. Only for a day though." For a day? I have seen what Leon could do and he was better than any cop I have ever seen. Did he get fired...or quit?

"Somehow I managed to get myself involved at the incident of Raccoon City. On my first day on the force." He finished solemnly.

So _that_ was Leon did before he became an agent. I wondered why a far off look appeared in his eyes as soon as he said it. It felt surprisingly pleasant to hear more about him. I realized I didn't know much about him other than he was a agent on a dire mission.

But what caught my attention was the city he mentioned. _Raccoon City_. What was that? Where? I have never heard of the city in my entire life. Was it a city in this world only? And who names a city after a _raccoon_? Was I supposed to know what happened at the _incident,_ whatever it was. Did everyone know? More and more questions kept swirling and the more and more I understood if Leon ever questioned me seriously, I would be in trouble. I was already deep enough in the rabbit hole as it was.

"That is the incident with the viral outbreak, right? I think I might've seen a sample in the lab of the department." Luis put in.

So a viral outbreak occurred in the city? Was that just another word for zombie apocalypse? And Luis said something about a sample, I questioned what that was and if was of any importance.

"And what of you, _hermosa muchacha_?" Did he just call me _beautiful girl_? From the smirk on his face I began to have the hunch that he was just hitting on me to get me riled up. I met this guy for maybe ten minutes - excluding the time we were knocked out - and I was already getting accustomed to his typical lines.

"What are you doing with a fellow like Leon?"

I began, "It doesn't-"

But before I was able to tell him it was none of his business, my attention spun to the loud groan erupting from the door.

A hostile human entered the room with an shiny, deadly looking axe. His glare didn't leave me to think he was here to untie and chat with us. Panic grew in me as I continued to struggle with the tight rope. I was just a sitting duck right now, waiting for him to come at me next.

"Do something!" Luis exclaimed as he hired the axe into the air.

Leon cooley said, "After you." The hostile lifted his weapon higher and brought it down.

I shut my eyes, expecting to hear screams of pure terror but instead, I heard a chain break. Opening my eyes wishfully, they managed to dodge the blow and break the handcuffs. They rolled to opposite directions with Leon beside me.

" _Untie_ me."

He strongly nodded. "Give me a minute."

The hostile started to lift his axe atop of Leon but he skillfully highered his left to catch him off balance and toppled him over. The human groaned painfully before he turned to dust, dying. The whole dust thing was surprisingly seeing like a typical, normal thing now. I supposed seeing something happen several times would make it seem like the usual.

Meanwhile, Luis decided it was a _perfect_ time to run away. He ran away like we were the hostiles and ready to attack him next. What was his problem? He was untrustworthy but I felt that we would see him soon again. I wasn't sure why.

Leon shortly untied me using the sharp knife, careful of not getting my fingers. He wiped his sweaty forehead with his bare arm and placed it back into it's case.

"That was a close call."

I heaved for air. "You can stay that again." I asked, "You alright?"

"Yeah, you?" He looked concerned. Leon placed lifted his hand to my forehead. The hand was oddly warm for the cold weather, I didn't want it to leave. "Any bruises, cuts? How's your head?"

I shook my head as heat rose to my cheek. I felt a turmoil in the pit of my stomach. I shrugged it off, probably still shocked of what happened.

I stated, "I'm fine, _completely_ fine." Although I wasn't. I was definitely not fine.

Leon didn't respond since Hunnigan called. He removed his hand from my head and conversed with her. He told her about the secret passage to the church and the stranger we met, Luis Sera. After their short conversation, he hung up and stretched out his hand for me.

"We're out then?" I took his hand to lift myself up and shook it off as we began to head out of the room. I couldn't be too dependent on him. Afterall, I had only known him for only a day.

As we walked into the hallway, we were faced with a creepy looking man staring at us out the window. His sudden appearance almost caused me to jump.

"Who's that?" I hoarsely said.

"Let's go find out."

We exited the area and the bright rays of the sunset hit me. I shaded my eyes with my arm as we neared the man. He wore a purple bandana that covered half of his face with a black hood over his head which was connected to his robe. He carried a large brown backpack and had blue eyes lighter than mine or Leons.

He rasped out loudly from a distance, "Hello stranger. Got something that might interest ya!"

 _Alright then._ He was not weird at all.

Leon began to walk to him at the secluded side of the house but I stayed back. No way was I getting myself caught up with another eccentric person in this world. Luis was enough. Plus the annoying humans that were trying to kill me were already enough.

When he realized I wasn't exactly tagging along, he looked inquisitively at me.

I said, "I... think I'm just going to stay here. Y'know be on the _lookout_."

A crossed look flashed across his face but he answered, "Okay, I won't be long."

When Leon left, and checking when the coast was clear, I immediately took out my cell phone. I raised a brow when I saw the time and date haven't changed a bit. And still no service. I honestly didn't know what I expected,I was in a _video game_. In no way in hell did my phone plan go that far. I searched through my pictures for leisure to find one of my brother making an ugly face at the camera.

God, I never wanted to see my family this much till now. Including Noah.

Which led me into another trail of thought. Noah and I were in the same room when we were sucked in so he had to be here too, right? It made sense but perhaps it was just my homesickness talking. Maybe I was going crazy, maybe not. But I really needed to see Noah. He was not be my favorite person but I needed him.

And I may or not have missed him.

A few minutes later of flipping through my pictures, reminiscing of memories that seemed so far away now, I heard footsteps approaching me. I quickly stuffed my phone into the pocket and watched Leon.

He was had a new gun strapped on his back. I think it was called a sniper rifle but I wasn't too sure. In his right hand was two black handguns. Why did he get another one?

"Another pistol?" I laughed, "Trying to multitask?"

"Not exactly. Its…for you."

I stopped laughing.

Horror flashed onto my face and I took a few stumbled steps back. He put his hand out and looked at me seriously. I hadn't seen him so serious like that, at least with me. He always treated me like I was glass, fragile. I knew that but he wasn't too keen on that now.

He started, "Alex-"

"No, no." I winced, "I-I can't take it. I c-can't kill them."

Interrupted, Leon took ahold of my shoulders and he stared at me with furrowed brown eyes and a hard stare. I looked at anything but his eyes.

" _Listen to me_ _and look at me_." He said. "You understand whatever happening now is dangerous, right? It's not a walk in a park."

I stayed silent.

"You're not getting it. What I'm trying to say is that now that your with me, I made you my responsibility. And I would feel better if you had something to protect yourself."

"Leon," I muttered, "I never wanted to be weight on your shoulders but-

"Stop it, Alex." He ruffled his hair and sighed, "I'm not sure how the night will turn out but it sure as hell won't be easy. Sometimes, you gotta do what it takes to survive. Even in what might seem like the weirdest and hopeless situations."

I struck out my hand and Leon handed the black glock.

I was trying to control the shakes as I took ahold of the pistol. It felt freezing against my fingers and I blankly stared at it.

"I'll do what it takes." I said, "Show me how use this thing."

* * *

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I worked pretty hard on this one :) PLEASE review. They really are much appreciated and help quicken my writing speed.


	9. Chapter 9: Sharpshooter

A/N: IMPORTANT! So for the next few weeks I have my finals which means I will be updating less, or not at all. I hope you all understand and sorry for the inconvenience. But don't worry everyone! After the three weeks, I will shortly return to updating frequently and regularly.

Warning: T for violence and profanity.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

* * *

 _Previously on Balance of Nature..._

" _Stop it, Alex." He ruffled his hair and sighed, "I'm not sure how the night will turn out but it sure as hell won't be easy. Sometimes, you gotta do what it takes to survive. Even in what might seem like the weirdest and hopeless situations."_

 _I struck out my hand and Leon handed the black glock._

 _I was trying to control the shakes as I took ahold of the pistol. It felt freezing against my fingers and I blankly stared at it._

" _I'll do what it takes." I said, "Show me how use this thing."_

Chapter 9: Sharpshooter

Never in a million years did I think I would learn how to handle a pistol. Or use one in that matter. I still didn't understand why I agreed to Leon's conditions in the first place.

I kept on reminding myself that I was in a videogame world, that none of it was real and that Leon wasn't real. Although as much as I tried to resist, the stronger I felt myself become attached to him. Not in the way of lovers, more in the way of a scared girl who needed someone to lean on, to trust. And at this point I had no choice other than to trust Leon. When I was first _dropped_ here, _he_ _was_ the _one_ who took me in, who helped me. Little did he know being in the middle of a rural village filled with hostiles was the least of my problems. To get out of this world was beyond the agent's capabilities, and perhaps mine...

"Alex! Are you listening?" Leon urgently interrupted me from my train of thought and waved a hand in front of my face. Was he still talking about how to use the pistol?

Ten minutes in, I zoned off after he tried to teach me everything he knew. Which was a lot. I supposed since he was the main protagonist of the game he had to be skilled at well, _everything_ , unlike I, who was thrusted into this world with no clue what to do. I didn't know how to shoot or any hand-to-hand combat. Why would I anyway? I lived in New York, the _nice_ parts. It was never like I had the need to protect myself plus I didn't like the idea of using a gun.

A pistol brought violence, warfare; things I only learned from the years with my nose tucked in history books. I knew plenty of facts about the most popular wars, in fact I could write a thousand word essay right now.

But this was different. I wasn't in New York anymore and the rules were rewritten.

Leon showed me how reload, aim and shoot. I didn't exactly follow along since it was all too complicated.

Something like left elbow bent but not too bent, right elbow straight but not too straight. He said it didn't matter where my feet were positioned as long as I could keep balance and a steady aim. Which I found most difficult. Managing a good and accurate aim was almost impossible. Leon said once it was the real deal - a.k.a. when we finally open the gate and hostiles swarm us - the survival instinct would kick in and my aim would be like a professional. I doubted it the second I heard it.

"Alex!" Leon exclaimed again.

Shaking my head out of thought, I responded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm listening."

He looked sceptical. "Oh yeah? What did I just say?" Damn.

"To reload?" I said but it sounded more like a question.

After my failed attempt to recall what he said, he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his broad chest.

" _No,_ " Leon said, "When we head in there, stay behind me, watch your aim and only shoot when necessary. And listen to what I have to say, _please_. I swear no woman ever listens to me."

I wondered what that was supposed to mean. Did he have a lot of women previously? The thought hadn't crossed my mind that Leon had a significant other back home, wherever that was.

"I got it."

"If I say run, you run. If I say hide, you hide."

I repeated, " _I got it, Leon._ "

"Just making sure. Anyways we don't have much time to waste, we're heading in."

And with that, we approached the large metal door, heading into the battlefield.

The newly found area was vast and distressingly, above ground with wooden platforms and bridges keeping it up. _Great, because heights were not scary at all._

"That's our way out of here." He said while pointing at the gate northwards. The only downfall and problems was that it was crawling with hostiles. Another thing to cheer for.

Leon furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes. He said, "We kill them first then head to the gate."

"Why can't we just take the ones in our way out? Why all?"

"I don't want a trail of them following us to Ashley."

I muttered, "I guess so."

The streamlined solution was mine but I had to remind myself that Leon cared more about Ashley's safety greatly. We headed down the stairs and onto the wooden platform. I refused to look down. I could only guess and imagine it was a long way down.

Keeping my head up, we climbed aboard the bridge but as we ventured to the middle of it, four hostiles flanked behind us. Leon quickly tilted his gun to his midsection and took aim. He blasted the head of one of them in a minute. The sight of guts and a blasted head still brought up bile in my throat but less more often. What kind of person was I turning into? But I never was a squeamish person proven when I bisected the frog while my other classmates whimpered. But what was disturbing was I have seen things here I never wanted to, and only in mere hours.

I was ready to sit there and admire Leon kicking ass until I remembered I had a pistol in my head. Which I was only supposed to use when necessary. Was now a good time? Hell, when was a good time to use this thing?

"Watch the torch." Leon exclaimed as he aimed at the incendiary torch and shot it mid air, for it to blow up and take two hostiles out remaining with three.

I took a short panicked breath as I saw a hostile rushing me next. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see Leon already fighting off two. Oh god, I needed to do something. I quickly recalled what Leon said. _Lift it to your eyesight. Close one of your eyes and aim for the chest, it's harder to miss. And then just pull the trigger_.

Pull the trigger. Pull the trigger. Pull the trigger.

I pulled the trigger and to my utter dismay, the bullet didn't hit the hostile. It pierced the cliff side instead. And the hostile, with it's shiny axe was a few inches away preyed on me. This was it. I was going to die. Sucking in a sharp breath, I shut my eyes and turned my head right after he lifted his axe.

But I didn't feel anything a second later, or a minute.

Opening my eyes, Leon stood in front of me, taking the knife he stabbed into the hostiles back out. How could anyone be so good at that? And quick too? My hands grew tomato red from my tight grasp on the pistol. I didn't mean to clutch it so hard but I knew with my sweaty palms, it would easily slip off the bridge.

"I almost died." I whispered to myself, wide eyed and gasping for breaths.

Wiping the blood of his knife, Leon mocked me from before, "You could say that again."

After regaining my composure after my near death experience, which was piling up, I quickly turned to Leon and shoved the pistol outwards in frustration.

"I-I can't do this. You saw me yourself, I _suck_."

"You missed once, so what?" He stood silent for few moments before seeming to spot something behind him. "I have an idea, follow me."

Without my input, he pivoted on his foot and grabbed my arm walking to the direction we came from. But this time going up a hill with wooden railings and military bags soldiers use for cover. Leon swifty killed a few hostiles at the top while I stood aside, letting him do his thing and scanned the area before resting his gun down and taking hold of my arm.

"Take this." He suddenly took out his rifle and handed it to me.

Taking a few steps back, I stuttered, "Why?"

"Because, Alex," He said, "I'm teaching you how to snipe."

" _You'll be what?_ " I looked at him like he was crazy. Which he most likely was.

"Listen, trust me it's easy and _safer_. Just aim, take a deep breath and shoot." He chuckled, "Just...try not to shoot me."

With my fumbly fingers the joke seemed more like reality. "You're nuts. I'm not doing this." I pushed the sniper away.

He looked slightly aggravated. "Alex," He sighed. "Just take it."

"No."

"Take it."

"No!"

"Take it!" He exclaimed with annoyance. "We don't have time for this."

I supposed he was right. Saving Ashley was our main priority, we just had different intentions.

" _Just take it._ " He said while looking at me with his deep eyes. The eyes that always got me, made me trust him, believe him, a complete stranger.

Knowing I would regret it later, I snatched the sniper. It was heavier than the pistol and was made of oat wood. But it had a scope that would make things easier. At least I hoped it would.

"What am I supposed to do with this thing?"

"I can take most of them down just cover me." Cover him? Did that just mean to watch his back?

I nervously nodded my head and scanned the overview. Leon was not the only crazy, apparently I was too. Since it was a higher ground, I was able to see the entire area and get a clear shot. There were only a few hostiles in sight but who knew how many were hiding in the houses where I wouldn't see Leon.

"It's actually pretty easy to use this thing." Leon stated as he neared me and pressed a hand on the rifle and my back. A shiver coursed through the entire area. "It's similar to the pistol but every time you shoot a bolt, you gotta bring back the switch at the top to load the next bolt."

"Like a shotgun." I said.

"Exactly. Aim with one eye closed and the other pressed to the scope but watch your cheek. There will be recoil. Go ahead, try it."

I did as he said and my vision had been scoured with a pointed and zoomed target. A hostile was right into my line of sight.

"Do you a clear sight on someone?"

"I think so," I breathed, "Should I take the shot?"

"Do it."

Listening to his confirmation, I took a deep breath and held it. With my enclosed breath, I focused my eye on the target and once the little black dot seemed to be perfectly placed on the chest, I pulled the trigger.

Although it hit him, it wasn't enough to take him down. Taking another breath, I lifted the gun once more and shot two more bolts at the hostile. It crumpled to the ground and disappeared into dust. The usual bile of shooting again was gone and instead excitement rises in me. What have I been turning into? I knew whoever these people were, were not normal. Did that still excuse the crime of killing them? It was not like I was actually ending their lives if they never had one in the first place, they were fiction. But the feeling of finally able to take one down, was relieving. It felt as if I was actually doing something right since I got here, I didn't know if if was just a fluke but I swore I felt it in my gut. Perhaps this was the first milestone for me to get the hell out of here.

"See, it wasn't too bad." Leon said with a cocky smile. "But next time aim for their heads, it's quicker."

"That was already _hard_ _enough_. If I try to aim for their heads I am going to fail, _miserably_."

Leon laughed, "Whatever works for you. I'm going to head down now, stay sharp." Did he always have to use that type of vocabulary? I barely understood it.

Before he was able to walk down the hill, I averted my eye from the scope and looked at him.

"Leon," I warned, "...be careful down there."

He gave me a warm smile in return and said, "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

The weird thing was that I actually was worried. But it wasn't worried like the in the village, I was genuinely concerned about his well-being. It wasn't like all I cared about was that survived to get me to Ashley. It was different, seeing him in danger made my heart skip ten beats.

 _He's a stranger, forget about him_ , the voice in my head called but I ignored it and turned my attention back to the matter at hand. I pressed my eye to the scope and searched for Leon. He was entering a house and I scanned the area for nearby hostiles. Two were beginning to enter the house and I quickly aimed.

 _Well,_ I guessed, _here goes nothing._

* * *

"I think that's all them!" I yelled to Leon from the high ground.

"Head to the gate northwards." He informed, still on lower ground.

We managed to get rid of all the hostiles and clear the area. It took quite a bit of time and sweat but was doable. It was not like I suddenly became a veteran and was able to take them down with one shot each. No it took plenty of bullets, I even ran out of bullets after a while but luckily there were some behind me. Oh, and that was another odd thing about this environment. There was ammo _everywhere_. We didn't even have to look anymore, it seemed whenever Leon needed it, it would turn up randomly. The only drawback was that we couldn't carry too much. I held pounds of bullets in my pockets since I didn't have a satchel or pack yet.

Strapping the sniper rifle on my back, I wiped a bead of sweat on my forearm and shaded my eyes from the sun which was setting. It was already dusk and I was still here. I dreadfully wondered how long the night would be before we saved Ashley.

Turning around ready to rendezvous with Leon, I am faced with a bright chest. How did I not see that before? Chests in video games was a good sign, that was one thing I knew. Hastily, I unflipped the slots and lifted the lid. I frowned when I looked inside. There was no gold or anything of significance, just a dirty looking trapezoid-shaped stone piece. But as I looked closer it seemed to some type of emblem.

I didn't know if was important but I still stuffed it in my pocket before I rushed down the slope and to the gate where Leon waited.

"Good work up there, Alex. Coulda' passed off as sharpshooter."

I smiled slyly. "I kinda like the rifle. _Way better than the pistol_."

"Really?" He chuckled. "A shame since I need it back. Pass it."

"C'mon," I started but rolled my eyes and handed the rifle back.

"Fine, fine, but be careful. My aim on the pistol is _not so great."_

"I'll risk it." He said while trying to push open the door to no avail.

I examined the hole in the middle of it. "This shape resembles half of emblem I found."Brushing my hand on it, I looked closer to find the same design.

"Does it look like this?" I turned to Leon to see him holding the other half of the emblem.

"Seems convenient, huh?" I laughed.

"Very." Leon agreed and together, we put the two pieces of the emblem together and slid it to unlock the door.

* * *

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed! Read and Review!


	10. Chapter 10: Insignia

A/N: *patting myself on the back* Well last chapter I said I wouldn't be updating but guess who updated! I found some spare time between my studying - which I should be doing right now!- and sleeping, I wrote the chapter! Anyways, this is also my tenth chapter, whoop-whoop!

Warning: T for violence and profanity.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

* * *

 _Previously on Balance of Nature..._

" _I'll risk it." He said while trying to push open the door to no avail._

 _I examined the hole in the middle of it. "This shape resembles half of stone I found."Brushing my hand on it, I looked closer to find the same design._

" _Does it look like this?" I turned to Leon to see him holding the other half of the emblem._

 _I said, "Shall we then?"_

 _Leon agreed and together, we put the two pieces of the emblem together and slid it over the door._

Chapter 10: Insignia

"I swear that insignia keeps popping up everywhere."

The dragonfly shaped insignia was seen everywhere in this rural village. In every nook, corner and cranny. It obviously was of importance to these people but what did it mean? But by the looks of how the night was going, I was soon finding out.

After Leon and I acquired the two emblems and stuck them together, it opened the door and led us on a path filled with hostiles. Eventually, we found ourselves in our current location, a house. The agent never commentated about our whereabouts, I honestly knew close to nothing about the mission except that we needed they key for secret passage to the church. I really hoped that it would be here or else all that walking and cowering behind Leon when hostile were near would go to waste. It didn't seem Leon had a sense of direction but oddly he always navigated us to the right place. Maybe he had a map in his head or something similar to a video game screen.

We currently managed to solve an easy puzzle involving a large turquoise crystal ball. And by easy, I meant ridiculously easy, all we had to was turn the ball twice to reveal the insignia. For a game you would think the puzzles would be more challenging. But I didn't really mind, the action portion was quite enough for me.

I asked, "What do you think the symbol means?"

We entered a room with a small window in the corner. It had all the normal things a bedroom would have, with a dresser, bed and nightstands. Something else caught my attention, the paintings hanging along the forest green paneling. I practically felt the eyes of the man in the two portraits follow me.

"I'm not too sure." Leon replied, distracted from reading a note he found on the bed.

Although I wondered what was written, I deemed it unimportant for now and allowed my gaze fall atop the portrait. Expecting it closer, it was of a man wearing a hood. The shade of the gloomy and solemn painting caressed his large, crooked nose and pale face. The painting was rather creepy. I wondered why anyone would want one of these portraits let alone _two_.

Leon suddenly informed, "It's a chief's note. He talked about Luis, saying that it would be worrisome if we cooperate with him. The chief kept talking about a guy named Lord Saddler. It seems like they have some kind of _plan_."

"Who are they?" I asked, crossing the room to look at the other portrait.

"That's a good question." He said openly.

I rolled my eyes. "To which we don't have the answer to." I ran my hand through the dresser expecting dust to form on my fingertips but not even a speck lifted. Was the room cleaned recently?

"Would you look at this." Leon sang to himself, hovering over a nightstand with a pleased look on his face. In his hand was a key. Shaped like the insignia, _again._

I muttered, "Back to the village, I guess." The key that was supposed to open the door in the village. The last place I wanted to return to but that secret passage was our one way ticket to the church and Ashley. Finding her the sooner I get the hell out of here.

"It won't be half as bad," He assured. "Plus now I have a sharpshooter with me."

"Where? I'd like to meet them." I said sarcastically. Oh please, I was definitely not a sharpshooter. I missed 99.9 percent of the time.

He said, "You should give yourself more credit. You taking everything logically and calm, unlike most who would be having a mental breakdown about now."

"I guess I'm just more determined but that determination doesn't root from bravery, it comes from fear. Leon, you have no clue as to how scared I really am."

His eyes softened. "I'll get you out of here, Alex, I promise."

I sighed quietly, "Let's get a move on. I don't want to waste too much time."

What the agent promised was kind and heartfelt but it didn't deny the fact that getting out of this village was not my biggest problem. This world, getting out of here was my true priority and I doubted Leon could assist me with that. Hell, I didn't even know how. I didn't know if this was my fear talking but the longer I was here, I felt myself to change. Me, Alex Black, a top student handling a rifle and killing hostiles. I could get a good laugh at school from that. But I guessed that's what happens when you are stuck in a video game. You needed to toughen up. Otherwise I never would find a way home.

 _Don't be a sissy, save Ashley._ I needed to start telling myself that more often.

The agent decided to let the conversation dwindle and began to slowly open the door. It let out a long creak as he swung it open but didn't shut it. Following closely behind, he scanned the surroundings. It was a hallway with two more creepy portraits. But this time, I recognized the Big Cheese in one of them. What the hell? Why was there a painting of him?

But it was the murmuring of talk that distracted me.

"You hear that, right?" I said, barely above a whisper. Did I hear footsteps?

Leon turned around started to put a finger to lips to cue to shut up. Yet something weird happened. Quickly, his eyes widened, but they were not pointed at me. It was what behind me.

A moment later all I felt was a large force pushing me into the wall on my head. The impact hurt like hell and I cursed in pain. In a quick glance, I saw with distaste the Big Cheese, holding me against the wall with one hand and gripping Leon's neck in the other.

Then I couldn't think anymore. Or see. Or breath.

Choking for air, I tried to claw his meaty hands way but to no avail. He was too strong and I was too weak. I struggled, my feet kicking, my hands prying. I felt the oxygen leave my body and every second my lungs were begging for more.

But as soon as it began, it ended.

The grasp on my neck disappeared. My weak knees brought me to ground, gasping for air to enter my lungs. Inhale, exhale after inhale, exhale. I coughed on the ground, my hair falling over my eyes with saliva dripping from my lip.

Suddenly, the Big Cheese addressed, "You carry the same blood as us, it seems. You're still outsiders, remember, if you become unpleasant you will suffer the consequences."

Huh? What was that supposed to mean?

Finally regaining enough composure -and air in my lungs- I wiped the spit away from mouth and pressed my back onto the wall and took quick breaths.

"What? Same blood?" Leon said quietly to himself while struggling to stand.

He turned to me. "Are you okay? Alex?" The agent brushed a stray strand of hair away from my face and tucked it behind my ears. If I was not freaking out I might have blushed. Leon took hold of my chin, forcing me to look at him.

I blinked rapidly and breathed, "So that's what choking feels like."

He didn't smile but instead had a frown on his face. "Alex, how do you feel?"

"I'm fine, totally fine." I politely shrugged his hand away.

Leon started, "I have to be more careful. I know you're scared and all. I should have-"

"Stop it," I uttered. "I'm okay, you couldn't have done anything."

Leon glanced to the floor and helped me stand. He whispered, barely audible, "Sorry."

Before I was able to respond, Hunnigan called. This time I listened in on their conversation

She said in her smooth voice, "Leon, I've able to get you some new info that might help you. Apparently, there's a religious cult group involved, Los Illuminados."

 _Not a freakin' cult group! Everything starts with a cult. Oh my god, they were the worst. Not to mention weird and creepy._

"What was that?" Leon asked.

Hunnigan quipped as well, "Was that Alex?"

I shook my head. "Nothing." I mentally smacked myself. I couldn't believe I just said that out loud. Leon gave me a weird look before returning to his conversation.

He said, "Los Illuminados? That's a mouthful. Anyway's I had an unexpected run with the Big Cheese of this village.

"You're okay? And Alex?"

"Yeah...but something happened. He could of killed us but he let us live. He mentioned us having the same blood as them. Whatever that means."

"Carry the same blood...hmm. interesting. I'll try to figure it out but you hurry and find that church." That was kind of disturbing what he said.

Leon said his confirmation to Hunnigan and hung up. As we made our way down the stairs, Leon stared at a dull painting.

"It's the church." As I expected closer, it was of a church. But how did he know it was that church? I guessed everything truly was connected here.

Softly walking among the wooden floor, it creaked but otherwise the talking had stopped and pure silence enveloped the area. Leaving Leon alone, my curiosity peaked as I began to slowly open a door beside the stairs.

Turning the corner, a hostile immediately grabbed my shoulders and lifted me in the air.

"Get off me!" He began to shake me aggressively. "Leon!"

A second later, the hostile released his grip on me and was kicked to the ground. Leon punched three more bullets in his head to be sure. Since I haven't been too close before, the blood of the hostile splattered on me, staining my sweater. I turned my head away and tried to wipe it away to no avail.

"It's not gonna come off." Short and simple but unnerving. I nodded my head in annoyance before leaving. But before we exited the restroom, I set one last glance at the very human-like urinal.

As we ventured off to the dining room, I said, "I guess they eat like regular people." My eyes lingered on the portraits soon after. Leon opened the oven and took an egg out. I wasn't even going to ask.

"They're not zombies, that's for sure." My face paled. Wait a minute. Did he just say zombies. And so casually too. There were zombies in this world? _Great_.

"T-they're in a cult. Cult's are crazy, maybe they brainwashed them, I've seen it happen in a movie once."

He said, "You might be not too far off to the truth."

* * *

"That's all of them!" I shouted.

Leon gave me a heads up and yelled, "Climb down and meet me at the insignia door." And with that, I strapped the rifle back onto my back and climbed down the tower.

We arrived to the village for it to be infested with hostiles. But instead of standing behind Leon, doing nothing unless you count occasionally shooting one bullet, he equipped me with his rifle and commanded me to take the tower. The tower I previously hid was my watchtower now. How ironic. Using the sniper rifle was surprisingly getting easier. Although Leon took care of most of the hostiles, I did my share.

Climbing down the ladder to rendezvous, I reached the agent. I began to take the rifle off of my back and hand it to him but he stopped me.

"Keep it, Alex. You have more use with it." Obviously a lie but still caused heat to flush to my cheeks.

"Are you sure?" After he said yes, I smiled genuinely and equipped the rifle beside the pistol I barely used. The stupid thing was impossible to handle. But if I could learn how to use a rifle, who said I couldn't learn how to use a pistol...

We opened the door with the insignia key and walked past the typewriter and dining table to the next room. It was a long room with no door or window. I shifted his gaze to the floor as Leon kicked open a trapdoor I hadn't noticed.

"We go down there." He gestured and I cautiously looked down. It was a cavern, a dark, grimy narrow passageway.

Quickly backing away, I shook my head. "No way in hell am I going down there."

"Do I have to push you?" He said testingly.

I exclaimed, "No!"

"Then?"

"But it's dark." Then the phrase hit. Don't be a sissy, save Ashley. "Fine, you jump first though." I was going to get myself killed, I already knew it.

Leon walked to the trapdoor and jumped down. Next, I sat on the floor of the trapdoor with my feet swinging and jumped down after him.

The cavern smelled unpleasant and dimly lit by fire torches. The dark always scared the hell out of me. Call me a five-year-old or whatever but I already regretted jumping down. I clinged to Leon's arm and stayed as near as possible.

"You're afraid of the dark, aren't you?"

I forcefully chuckled, "That obvious, huh?" We walked through a pool. Worst of all my socks got soaked.

"Just stay close." He said as we perused through the lonely cavern.

* * *

A/N: Hoped you guys enjoyed this update! Tell me what you think is going to happen next? Review!


	11. Chapter 11: Meet Your Partner

A/N: Hey guys! Since finals are finally over with, *wipes sweat off forehead*, I will try to update more often as promised. Switching it up a bit, I changed this chapter to Noah's perspective. I always have such a fun time writing him and I could never forget about poor, sweet, ole' Noah :)

Warning: T for violence and profanity. Heads up, there will be a spoiler in this chapter regarding the ending of the fifth game in Resident Evil. It's not a big spoiler and most of you probably know it. But just to be safe I wanted to let y'all know beforehand.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for the Black twins, the rest belongs to Capcom.

* * *

 _Previously on Balance of Nature…_

 _The Tyrant growled once more before giving a low groan and releasing his grasp on me. I dropped to the floor and waited. Watching it, it gave a cry of agony before clutching the spot where I stabbed multiple times. Hey I was right! Shanking was easy._

 _It suddenly stopped screaming and a moment later, it shattered to dust._

 _That was when I heard the rumble of the spikes lifting. Turing around, the untrapped crystal orb looked as desirable as ever and I sprinted toward it, wanting to waste a second no longer. As I entered the tunnel, I slapped my hand on the orb._

" _Time to complete, 8.12 minutes. Strength, passed. Hand-to-Hand Combat, passed. Firearm Skill, passed. You successfully completed Landscape 2."_

Chapter 11: Meet Your Partner

 **Noah**

I immediately frowned when I was transported into the third and final landscape.

"What the…" Silently whispering to myself, I surveyed the room.

It stuck out like a sore thumb compared the previous two. I wasn't outdoors, instead I was standing in a room that appeared similar to the one where I first equipped my weapons. It was dark but I could spot a dark red curtain at the back. But there was something missing, the crystal orb. I searched for it but it wasn't in sight. Maybe it was behind the curtain.

Although the room was dimly lit, there was a light shining upon a small pedestal in the center. I slowly approached it, sort of waiting for something to pop out at me like a horror movie. But as I neared it, nothing came out at me and I realized there was a blue paper card sitting atop the pedestal. The paper felt cool against my warm fingers as I picked it up and located a tiny Umbrella logo in the top corner.

The text read, _to pass the final test, you must complete a quest. To begin if you're uncertain, reveal what's behind the curtain. Is he worthy of mercy? Rejoice in your choice, for it's the only desire you acquire._

What? Flipping the card in my hand to see if there was something written on the back, I raised a thick brow. It wasn't a riddle, at least I didn't think it was. It was more like a rhymed poem. _Is he worthy of mercy_? I wondered who he was and what had put him at the risk to be worthy of mercy. And the last part, the bit about my choice, what the flying shit did that mean?

Deeming to find out, I cautiously approached the curtain. I slowly pulled apart the drapes using the tips of my fingertips to stumble upon the scene. It certainly wasn't a pleasant one. There was a stage, with oak wood and red carpets in the background. But there was something - someone - else on the stage. A child, no older than ten, his feet, mouth and tied to a chair. But his big brown eyes were pleading enough to speak for himself.

"Oh shit." I breathed in, reading the sign behind him. _Kill him,_ it read in red spray paint.

I couldn't do it. It was inhumane, wrong. He was just an innocent boy, how was I supposed to kill him? Why couldn't they give me more zombies and B.O.W.'s? Killing those things were easy, you couldn't feel remorse for killing something that was already dead. But this was different, he was human, one of a kind and unique...and I had to kill him.

His muffled scream echoed throughout the stage, hoping for anybody to hear and help him from me, the big bad wolf holding the nine. I flipped the gun in my hand once, making sure not to make contact with the boy's eyes. I knew if I did, I wouldn't do it, I couldn't.

 _Kill him._

He wasn't real, he was just a figment of my imagination and of this landscape but that didn't make things any easier. The crystal globe from the corner of my eyes glowed with temptation but the landscape was incomplete. I had the choice to touch it right now but I didn't know what that would result in. But I couldn't ignore the sweat forming on my forehead and armpits from the mere idea of killing a another human.

I glanced at the orb. I could spare him but I had a feeling what that meant, failure and I couldn't have that.

 _He wasn't real, none of this was real_ , I thought to myself as I stared at the pistol in my hands, it felt heavier than usual. _He wasn't real, none of this was real._ I could do this, I had to do this. I needed to follow my plan of receiving Wesker's loyalty and finish the Resident Evil game, I had no Plan B.

My time was running out and I had a minute left to act. Taking a deep breath, I lifted the pistol strongly and spared one last glance at the crying boy. _He wasn't real, none of this was real._

I aimed and shot the gun.

Quickly pivoting my foot, I shaded my eyes from the gore. "I'm sorry." I groaned but as much as I wanted to believe I had no choice, I understood at the end of the day it was my gun and it was me who pulled the trigger. God, I thought being sucked in this world would be _fun_.

The boy's cloaked cries quickly died down, too literally. I choked down the vomit rising up and kept my head tilted the other direction as I made my way to the orb. I didn't waste a second longer as I touched the cool crystal.

The robotic voice called, "Time to complete, 9.45 minutes." The simplest landscape took the longest to complete and was most challenging, how ironic. I wondered what that said about me. "You have passed the third landscape, number 45. Congratulations on successfully completing all three Landscapes."

* * *

When I drowsily lifted my eyelids, I saw myself facing Wesker. The very sight of him caused a shiver to run through my spine _and_ for my inner fanboy to pop out. It wasn't like he was my favourite character - that spot was saved for Chris Redfield by a longshot - but seeing the villain of the Resident Evil series and knowing he was the real deal kind of excited me.

And scared me. If one person who knew what he was fully capable of, it was me. I saw him bring terror to the world since his demise by Chris and Sheva in the fifth game.

Wesker said, "I knew you were a special one by the blood tests." What blood tests? Was he referring to the needle that he stuck in my body? I doubted he only took a blood sample because he put a _freakin virus in me._ "I have big plans for you."

I interrupted, feeling braver than usual, "I'm not going to answer any of them until you answer mine."

Wesker chuckled cooly. Crossing his legs atop the chair, he cooed, "Very well. Ask away."

"Where did you find me?" I was genuinely curious as to how I ended up here. It also was an easy question for him to answer, not that I particularly cared since I was going to ask more, urgent questions.

"Well, my employees found you in a nearby forest knocked out. We took a blood and DNA to find out who you are."

Ignoring the idea of being unconscious in the forest, I asked quietly, "You know who I am?"

"Of course we do, Umbrella's technology is better than any governments. You are Noah Black. Height, 6'1. Weight, 160 pounds. And you share the same birthday as your twin sister, January 2, 1986. Any of this ring a bell?"

Oh sweet sugary Jesus. My mouth gaped open and felt my head spinning more than a hamster on a wheel.

 _I existed in this world._ It wasn't anything how I imagined, I wasn't dropped here from the heavens and that nobody would have a slight clue who I was. Wesker got everything right, my height, weight, he even got my birthday right. That meant I was the same guy I was back in my world but now...I existed in Resident Evil world. But how was it that simple? How was that remotely possible? Maybe this was all a freaky dream after all _or_ I got stuck in an alternate universe or fifth dimension. Man, I really needed to know what was going on. Wesker also said something about my sister. They were here too. But the real question was if they were the real Black's and not some fake, altered version. This reminded me all too much of a dumb book I was forced to read for english class. But this wasn't Candyland, this was a freakin' zombie, B.O.W., Wesker holding world.

And I was totally, utterly and impossibly screwed.

"You are quite a successful young man, attending New York University on a full football scholarship." Me? That was my life here? Well, damn. That actually didn't sound too bad…

Focus!

Realizing I was still stuck to the chair, I ripped the suctions off my face and arm. I demanded, "And who the hell gave you the right to take that away from me by injecting me with a virus?"

Wesker smirked. "Ah yes, the T-Virus. Developed quite nicely with you, Noah, you have a very interesting blood type." Interesting blood type?

"Stop being vague, what do you mean by that?"

"You're blood type is a hybrid of three blood types. I tested you with three models but none of them affected you. The T-Virus is not meant to be dangerous, in fact it is supposed to elevate one's natural abilities. Which reminds me, how do you like your newfound modifications?" _Modifications._

I clenched my fists. "Answer my question. How did any of this lead up to you injecting me with it?"

Wesker seemed to be taken aback my sudden burst of anger. Deep down, I knew I was handling all this wrong. I was supposed to gain his trust, find my sister and get out of here but that all changed when he brought up the fact that my family and I existed in this world. I didn't really know if finding a way home was possible. But maybe that just changed my game plan. I didn't want to be Wesker's puppet soldier but if I had to, I would. I just needed to get out of the facility and find my family. That was...if they were real. They could be completely different people and be labeled as the Black's. No matter kind of quest Wesker gave me, I had no other option but to obey. If I wanted to love and get the hell out of here, which I did. I didn't want to miss the party, or prom or the football championship game on Friday. That was my life and I needed to get back to it. Even if I existed in this world, it wasn't my home. I knew that I had to find a way out of here, possibly with Alex by my side. And if - _when-_ I come back, there sure as hell be a bomb ass welcoming party waiting for me. I couldn't forget about the big football game this weekend. These superhuman strengths of mine will knock the socks of the scouts….

Wait a minute, what the hell was I saying? I couldn't go back like this, they would think of me as a freak. Probably put me in a test lab, they would be no different than Wesker. I supposed my biggest concern was getting the virus out of me, no matter how badass it made me feel. It was like I was on steroids and drugs at the same time but ten times more. Trust me, I would know.

"We saved your life by finding you, if we came any later the wolves would have already ripped you to shreds," He said casually, "I need new soldiers, expendable ones. I always seem to keep running out." This guy was nuts.

I ignored the last part and said, "Tell me where I am...and the date." I knew I was in an Umbrella facility but I needed to make this more believable and desperate.

"You're in an underground Umbrella facility." He thought to himself, "Perhaps I should give you another shot, your physical strengths are profound but your intellect seems to be lacking..."

" _The date._ " I repeated.

He said, "August 31, 2004." Aha! I was right, I _was_ in Resident Evil 4 timeframe.

While pondering over a new game plan or Plan B, a knock erupted from the door.

"Perfect timing," Wesker chuckled. "Come, Alex, it's time to meet your new partner."

New partner? What was Wesker blabbering on about now?

But when the door swung open, my eyes widened at the sight of the one, the only, _Jack_ _Krauser._


End file.
